Our History
A long-established and proven track record
The origins of the Acino – which was named “Schweizerhall” until 2008 – date back to 1836 when the company was founded around a saltworks operation near Basel, Switzerland. Subsequently, the company widened its activities to become both a manufacturer and trader and enlarged its portfolio with value added products including chemical specialties such as feeding stuffs, fertilizers and active pharmaceutical ingredients.
In 1994, the company went public on the Swiss stock exchange (SIX: ACIN) and gradually streamlined its business to focus on chemicals, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. The subsequent years saw a focusing of the company’s activities on advanced drug delivery with the acquisition of Cimex Pharma AG, a Swiss supplier of complex solid oral dosage forms, in 2004, and of Novosis AG, Europe’s second largest manufacturer of transdermal patches and of biodegradable implants, in 2006.
Our focus on emerging markets has since seen the acquisition of leading phramaceutical manufacturing and commercial organisations, including in South Africa.
1992
The Biovac cc started
1998
Biovac Holdings sold 40% stake to Litha Investment Group
2003
Biovac Consortium awarded contract with SA goverment in forming a PPP The Biovac Institute
2006
Litha Investments purchase extra 11% of Biovac Holdings
Name Changes to Litha Health Care Holdings (LHH)
2008
Change of the group and subsidiaries name to Acino
2009
Completed funding and planning for Biovac vaccine manufacturing site CT
2010
Litha Healthcare Group Lists on JSE
2011
Acquisition of combined Middle East and African Business of Cephalon Acquisition of Mepha’s production and R&D facilities and the business in MEA, LATAM and Asia. Commercialization of products under the brand “Acino Switzerland”
International NDB signed with Cpoint Capital Inc.
Biovac extends FSA with DOH to 2016
LHG acquires Goldex Healthcare and OTC Pharma SA
2012
LHG purchases 100% of Pharmaplan for R590 m and merges business with Litha Pharma Division
Paladin Labs Inc. acquires 44.5% of LHG
2013
Takeover by Avista Capital and Nordic Capital
Endo International plc, offers to acquired Paladin Labs Inc.
2014
Acino is delisted from the stock exchange
Acquisition of Copharm in Russia
Endo International plc, completes acquisition pf Paladin Labs Inc. effectively owning 65% of Litha Healthcare Group Limited
Endo and LHG announce intent to acquire balance of Litha shares
2015
Acquisition of PharmaStart in Ukraine
Endo International plc, completes 100% acquisition of Litha Healthcare Group Limited. Litha delists from JSE
Litha Healthcare Group changes to (Pty) Ltd.
Litha announces divestment of medical and vaccine business
Endo completes acquisition of Aspen product portfolio
2016
Move of the Headquarters to Zurich and start of a substantial re-organization in Switzerland
In–licensing agreement for the combination painkiller Maxigesic of AFT
Acquisition of MENA operations and product rights of Norgine B.V.
Aquisition of Takeda’s manufacturing plant in Põlva, Estonia
Divestment of Acino’s transdermal and implant business to Luye Pharma Ltd.
2017
Litha Healthcare Group (Pty) Ltd. Acquired by Acino from Endo international.
2019
Acino opens new offices in Turkey and Egypt
2020
Acino completes acquisition with Takeda for primary care portfolio in key emerging markets
Acino receives EU GMP certification in Ukraine
Acino attains B-BBEE certification in South Africa
2021
Acino completes acquisition of portfolio of prescription pharmaceutical products and food supplements from IlmixGroup group in Russia
Acino attains Level 1 B-BBEE status in South Africa for the second year in a row
Acino and Pharmax collaborate to align with UAE’s strategy to become a regional pharmaceutical manufacturing hub
Merz Therapeutics and Acino sign distribution agreement in Ukraine, CIS and Mongolia
Abu Dhabi based ADQ, one of the region’s largest holding companies with a broad portfolio of major enterprises spanning key sectors, signs agreement to acquire Acino
Acino acquires selected Aspen brands in South Africa
2022
ADQ completes acquisition of Acino
Acino acquires selected Aspen prescription medicines in South Africa
The story continues