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Our history, from the drugstore to the pharmaceutical company and the industrial production that has forged our reputation today, illustrates our will to innovate in order to better protect patients against the risks of medication errors.
From rheumatism to the first laboratory
Aguettant’s roots are in rheumatism. In the 1830s, Noël Crolas developed the Cocheux tincture for rheumatism and gout in his pharmacy.
Noël’s son, Ferdinand Crolas, sold the tincture to his brother-in-law, Louis-Joseph Aguettant, a chemist and a businessman, in an effort to secure the long-term future of the small family business.
In 1880, the latter founded Tavernier et Aguettant with the pharmacist, Bruno Tavernier.
The laboratory’s vocation was shaped by its keen interest in the works of Gabriel Pravaz, who perfected the syringe, and in Ferdinand Crolas’ work on antipyrine.
In 1903, Louis-Joseph’s grandson, Noël Aguettant, who was also a pharmacist, moved to the Quai Fulchiron to take over his forbears’ activity and to develop a new technology: injectable medicines.
In 1835, Noël Crolas extracted alkaloid from an autumn crocus bulb in his pharmacy in the Rue Farges in Lyon, and developed the Cocheux tincture, designed to treat rheumatism and gout.
The product remained on sale for more than 150 years, until the 1990s.
At that time, it was the oldest medicine in the Vidal, the French reference directory of medicines.
The industrialisation of production
At the end of 1941, Noël's son, Georges Aguettant, took control of the company and formed the “Laboratoire Aguettant” limited liability company. He reorganised the company’s activity and developed new products, including a range for domestic and veterinary hygiene, which remained on sale until the 1980s.
In 1959, Georges moved the laboratory to the Gerland district of Lyon. This move marked the start of the company’s activity on an industrial scale.
A number of innovations were launched in the 1980s, positioning Aguettant as a specialist in injectable essential medicines.
THE FIRST INNOVATIONS
1945 : Solutes to compensate for mineral loss during extra-renal cleansing.
1961 : The only laboratory in France to offer solutes in soft containers.
1968 :Dialytan H, the first concentrate for dialysis to receive market authorisation in France.
1977 :Elaboration of several artificial nutrition formulae.
New developments
In the 1990s, George’s children, Ariel Aguettant and his sister Daphné d’Arcy, started investing in new developments.
Ready-to-administer products became a major field of research in different domains. The first pre-filled glass syringes were released. This administration system was optimised a few years later by switching from glass to plastic.
Since then, ready-to-administer solutions have become the company’s main area of research and the motor that drives the international development of Aguettant.
SOME MAJOR MILESTONES
1991 : The first market authorisation in the world for injectable apomorphine
1995 :Production and commercial release of generic medicines used in anaesthesia and intensive care.
1999 : The Apokinon self-injecting pen receives the Pharmapack award
2004 : Launch of a pre-filled glass syringe
2010 : The pre-filled plastic syringe receives the Pharmapack award in the safe hospital usage category.
2016: official inauguration of the new Gerland site
The new production site and head office in the Gerland district of Lyon saw the birth of the Aguettant integrated company, capable of meeting the demands of international reference standards.
It was inaugurated in the presence of :
- Sébastien Aguettant, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board,
- Eric Rougemond, the Chairman of the Aguettant Group’s Board of Directors,
- Gérard Collomb, Senator-Mayor of Lyon and Chairman of the Greater Lyon Council,
- Laurent Wauquiez, Member of Parliament for the Haute-Loire and President of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and,
- Xavier Inglebert, General Secretary and Prefect for Equal Opportunities in the Rhône department.