Welcome to the News & More section. Here you will find general information in the form of press releases, news and the latest graphical material.
Berlin-Chemie has been developing, manufacturing and distributing pharmaceutical products for over 130 years and has been a wholly owned subsidiary of the Menarini Group, the leading Italian pharmaceutical company, since 1992.
For patients, we provide the latest patient information leaflets and training materials as well as the technical information for Berlin-Chemie products available in Germany via our Medical Hub.
Responsibility is a top priority at Berlin-Chemie. We not only make an important contribution to healthcare, but also put our values into practice through various social initiatives.
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From school kits to free meals and medicines, to caring for the environment around the world. In Menarini, being responsible means translating our values into concrete actions that are good for others and good for the planet
Berlin-Chemie – a strong partner. Our many years of experience and the success of joint projects make us the partner of choice.
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Menarini has in-depth know-how in many important therapeutic areas, thanks to many years of excellent market introduction, marketing and sales capabilities as well as expertise in regulatory aspects and market access. Collaboration is the key to great success, and at Menarini, partnership is part of the DNA.
Our holistic and professional health management offers doctors individual counselling, training or workshops, events and lectures on many topics, depending on their needs.
Our Medical Hub acts as a central point of contact for doctors and healthcare professionals. Here you will find all the information about our medications, additional service and training opportunities.
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Company History
Pharmaceutical manufacturer with a rich tradition, located in the heart of Europe
Kahlbaum Laborpräparate
In 1890, Johannes Kahlbaum founded the chemical and pharmaceutical company “Kahlbaum Laborpräparate”. The old factory once stood on the current business premises of BERLIN-CHEMIE AG in Berlin-Adlershof. At the start of the 20th century, Kahlbaum Laborpräparate already employed more than 250 persons who manufactured more than 1,000 different laboratory chemicals and first medicinal products.
Von der Schering-Kahlbaum AG zur Schering AG
After the company merged with Schering, headquartered in Berlin-Wedding, in 1927, it belonged to one of the largest chemical and pharmaceutical companies of the country, and was renamed Schering-Kahlbaum AG. Only ten years later, in 1937, the company realigned its entire strategy following the complete takeover by Schering AG: From then on, the company focused on producing not only chemical-technical products, but also increasingly pharmaceutical products.
VEB Berlin-Chemie
After the end of the Second World War, the Adlershof factory of Schering AG was located in the Soviet occupation zone and thus in the later German Democratic Republic. As a result of dismantling, the company loses machines, equipment, laboratory facilities and raw materials, but at the same time production continues on the orders of the military administration. A large proportion of the products were seized by the occupying Soviet forces as reparations. In 1948, the Adlershof factory was nationalised and converted into a publicly owned enterprise.
From the mid-50s onwards, the company signed as VEB Berlin-Chemie. In the years that followed, the publicly owned company developed into one of the largest chemical companies with drug manufacture in the German Democratic Republic. In addition to penicillin, insulin and chloramphenicol, VEB Berlin-Chemie produced pesticides and pest control products, later also silicates for residential construction and raw materials for the textile and cosmetic industry.
Gründung der BERLIN-CHEMIE Aktiengesellschaft
Shortly after the fall of the Berlin wall, the company was converted to a private corporation (Aktiengesellschaft) to secure its future. This also led to a reorientation: From that moment on, BERLIN-CHEMIE specialised exclusively on pharmaceutical products and aligned its production to meet international standards. During the radical conversion, the company invested more than 100 million DM. With the reunification, the former Treuhandanstalt was commissioned with the sale of the newly established BERLIN-CHEMIE AG, which was put up for international tender.
Verkauf an die italienische MENARINI-Gruppe
In the international tendering process, the largest Italian pharmaceutical company, the MENARINI Group, acquired BERLIN-CHEMIE AG in 1992, before comprehensively expanding in particular the marketing and sales departments in order to make the company fit to meet the challenges of the time. BERLIN-CHEMIE has been operating in the German pharmaceutical market as a whole since 1993 and has achieved major economic successes since 1994. Over the past two decades, BERLIN-CHEMIE has developed into an internationally operating and successful drug manufacturer. international standards. During the radical conversion, the company invested more than 100 million DM. With the reunification, the former Treuhandanstalt was commissioned with the sale of the newly established BERLIN-CHEMIE AG, which was put up for international tender.
30-jähriges Jubiläum von BERLIN-CHEMIE und MENARINI
The 30-year affiliaton of the eastern German pharmaceutical company to the Itlaian MENARINI Group today is emblematic for a history that stands for joint success with respect to its multinationalism as well as its economic viability. At that time, BERLIN-CHEMIE enabled the MENARINI Group to enter the German, central and eastern European as well as central Asian markets and today makes a major contribution, accounting for around a third, to the group's sales volume, which stood at 3.922 billion euro in 2021.