Grünenthal GmbH
Grünenthal is a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Stolberg, near Aachen in Germany. The company was founded in 1946 as Chemie Grünenthal, and has been continuously family owned. The company was the first to introduce penicillin into the German market in the post-war period, after the Allied Control Council lifted its ban. In the 1960s, Grünenthal became infamous for the development and sale of the teratogenic drug Thalidomide. It was marketed as the sleeping pill Contergan, and promoted as a morning sickness preventative. However it caused severe deformities in the children born to mothers who took it.
Today the firm generates more than 50% of its income with pain medications, such as the drug Tramadol which it developed.
It has two offices in Germany. In addition Grünenthal has subsidiaries in Europe, Latin America, the USA and China.
History
Chemie Grünenthal was founded 1946 by Hermann Wirtz, Sr. as Chemie Grünenthal GmbH in Stolberg (Rhineland), later it was renamed in Grünenthal GmbH and its headquarters were moved to Aachen.
