Fresenius (company)

Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA is a health care company based in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany. It provides products and services for dialysis, in hospitals and inpatient and outpatient medical care. It is involved in hospital management and in engineering and services for medical centers and other health care facilities.

Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA
Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien with Societas Europaea as partner with unlimited liability
Traded asFWB: FRE
Euro Stoxx 50 component
ISINDE0005785604 
IndustryHealth care
Founded1912 (1912)
FounderEduard Fresenius
Headquarters
Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany
Key people
Stephan Sturm (CEO and chairman of the management board)
Gerd Krick (Chairman of the supervisory board)
Productsinfusion pumps, medication, hospitals, medical care
ServicesDialysis
Revenue €35.524 billion (2019)
€4.599 billion (2019)
€1.915 billion (2019)
Total assets €67.006 billion (2019)
Total equity €26.580 billion (2019)
Number of employees
 294,134 (2019) [1]
Websitewww.fresenius.com
Footnotes / references
[2]

The company is ranked 258th on the Forbes Global 2000.[3]

Operations

There are four divisions:

Structure
  • Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA
    • Fresenius Medical Care
      • NxStage Medical, Inc.
    • Fresenius Helios
      • Helios Kliniken GmbH
        • Humaine Kliniken
        • IDC Salud Holding S.L.U. (Quirónsalud)
        • Damp Group
    • Fresenius Kabi AG
      • Labesfal SA
      • Fresenius Kabi Oncology Plc
      • Dabur Pharma Ltd
      • APP Pharmaceuticals, Inc
      • Fenwal Holdings, Inc.
    • Fresenius Vamed

History

The company was founded by Eduard Fresenius in 1912.[5]

In 1946, Fresenius died. Else Kröner, his foster-daughter and protegée, who was still in pharmacy school at the time, inherited the company. Else Kröner rescued the company from significant debts by laying off the majority of staff and restructuring the business. Kröner died in 1988. Kröner's will left all of her assets to the Else Kröner-Fresenius-Foundation, which funds medical research.[6]

In 1966, the company began to sell dialysis machines.[5]

In 1982, the company converted to a joint stock company.[5]

In 1983, the company began producing polysulfone fiber membranes.[5]

In 1986, the company became a public company, listing shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.[5]

In 1996, the company merged its dialysis business into National Medical Care to form Fresenius Medical Care.[5]

In 1999, the company acquired the international nutrition business of Pharmacia & Upjohn and merged it with Fresenius Pharma to form Fresenius Kabi.[5]

In 2001, the company acquired Wittgensteiner Kliniken, a major operator of private hospitals in Germany.[5]

In 2005, the company acquired Helios.[5]

In March 2005, Fresenius Kabi AG acquired Labesfal (Laboratório de Especialidades Farmacêuticas Almiro S.A.).[7][8]

In September 2006, Helios Kliniken acquired a majority stake in Humaine Kliniken.[9] HUMAINE operates six acute and post acute care hospitals in the fields of neurology, oncology and traumatology.

On July 16, 2007, the company completed its conversion from an Aktiengesellschaft (AG - German public limited company) to a Societas Europaea, the European Union-wide equivalent.[10] The company changed its legal status once again on January 28, 2011, becoming a Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien (KGaA - German partnership limited by shares) with a Societas Europaea as a partner with unlimited liability (SE & Co. KGaA).[11]

In August 2008, Fresenius Kabi acquired 73.3% of Dabur Pharma of India.[12]

In September 2008, Fresenius Kabi acquired APP Pharmaceuticals, Inc.[13]

In October 2011, the company agreed to acquire 51% of the share capital in Katholisches Klinikum Duisburg hospital.[14]

Also in October 2011, Helios Kliniken acquired 94.7% of the share capital in Damp Group.[15]

In September 2013, Fresenius acquired 41 hospitals from Rhön-Klinikum for €3.07 billion.[16][17] In 2014, Fresenius sold its 5% stake in Rhön-Klinikum.[18]

In November 2014, the company announced that its Russian partners, Sistema and Zenitco Finance Management, agreed to terminate their joint venture agreement that had been established in April 2014. The termination was prompted by changing political and regulatory circumstances in the region.[19]

In January 2016, Fresenius Kabi announced that it would acquire Becton Dickinson's prescription drug business.[20]

In February 2016, Fresenius Helios acquired the municipal hospital in Velbert, North Rhine-Westphalia.[21]

In January 2017, Fresenius acquired the largest Spanish hospital group, the Grupo Hospitalario Quirónsalud for €5.76 billion and merged it into the Helios Group, establishing the biggest hospital group of Europe.[22]

In September 2017, Fresenius Kabi acquired Merck KGaA’s biosimilars business.[23]

In February 2019, Fresenius Medical Care acquired NxStage, a US-based maker of in-home dialysis devices, for $2 billion.[24][25]

Controversies

Concerns of use of hydroxyethyl starch and threats against researcher

In 2012, a paper was published raising concerns regarding the use of hydroxyethyl starch in sepsis.[26] Fresenius Kabi, which makes the product, threatened legal action against the main author, Danish scientist Anders Perner.[27]

Supply of faulty insulin syringes

In 2015, Fresenius Kabi Group pleaded guilty to breaches of United Kingdom's Medicines Act 1968 and was fined £500,000 by the Sheffield Crown Court for supplying faulty insulin syringes containing no insulin, leading to the death of Neil Judge from diabetic ketoacidosis in 2010.[28][29]

Bribery allegations

In 2019, the company paid $231 million to the United States Department of Justice to settle allegations of civil bribery to obtain business in Angola, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Spain.[30]

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gollark: But being able to write correct, type-safe and easy to write/read code is often more important than a bit more performance.
gollark: Perhaps.
gollark: I mean, they do internally, but you don't need to work with them directly.
gollark: *do not require pointers*

References
  1. "Press release on 2019 fiscal year". Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  2. "Annual Report". Fresenius.
  3. "Fresenius". Forbes.
  4. "Group Overview". Fresenius.
  5. "History - Fresenius".
  6. "Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung (Foundation)". Fresenius.
  7. "Fresenius Kabi closed acquisition of I.V. drug company Labesfal" (Press release). Fresenius. March 16, 2005.
  8. "Fresenius Kabi continues growth strategy and acquires I.V. drug company" (Press release). Fresenius. January 7, 2005.
  9. "HELIOS obtains antitrust approval to acquire HUMAINE Kliniken" (Press release). Fresenius. September 11, 2006.
  10. "Fresenius completes conversion into a European Company (SE)" (Press release). Fresenius. July 16, 2007.
  11. "Fresenius implements share conversion and change of legal form – First trading day of Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA shares scheduled for January 31, 2011" (Press release). Fresenius. 28 January 2011.
  12. "German co Fresenius Kabi picks up 73% in Dabur Pharma". The Times of India. April 20, 2008.
  13. "Fresenius closes APP acquisition" (Press release). Fresenius. September 10, 2008.
  14. "HELIOS acquires majority of maximum care hospital in Duisburg, North-Rhine Westphalia" (Press release). Fresenius. October 31, 2011.
  15. "HELIOS continues expansion in German hospital market, acquires Damp Group" (Press release). Fresenius. October 12, 2011.
  16. Gould, Jonathan; Burger, Ludwig (September 13, 2013). "Rhoen-Klinikum to sell hospitals to Fresenius in $4 billion deal". Reuters.
  17. Ross, Alice (September 13, 2013). "Fresenius buys Rhön-Klinikum hospitals for €3bn". Financial Times.
  18. Dauer, Ulrike (June 30, 2014). "Fresenius Sells Rhoen-Klinikum Stake". The Wall Street Journal.
  19. "Fresenius says Fresenius Kabi and Russian partners terminate JV". Reuters. 6 November 2014.
  20. "Fresenius Kabi USA Acquires U.S. Pharmaceutical Plant and Ready-to-Administer Drugs from BD" (Press release). Business Wire. January 8, 2016.
  21. "Fresenius Helios acquires hospital in North Rhine-Westphalia with more than 500 beds" (Press release). Fresenius. February 22, 2016.
  22. "Fresenius Helios closes acquisition of Quirónsalud" (Press release). Fresenius. January 31, 2017.
  23. "Fresenius Kabi completes acquisition of Merck KGaA's biosimilars business" (Press release). Fresenius. September 1, 2017.
  24. "Fresenius Medical Care completes acquisition of NxStage Medical" (Press release). PR Newswire. February 26, 2019.
  25. BANNOW, TARA (February 26, 2019). "Fresenius Medical Care closes $2 billion NxStage acquisition". Modern Healthcare.
  26. Perner, Anders; Haase, Nicolai; Guttormsen, Anne B.; Tenhunen, Jyrki; Klemenzson, Gudmundur; Åneman, Anders; Madsen, Kristian R.; Møller, Morten H.; Elkjær, Jeanie M.; Poulsen, Lone M.; Bendtsen, Asger; Winding, Robert (July 12, 2012). "Hydroxyethyl starch 130/0.42 versus Ringer's acetate in severe sepsis". The New England Journal of Medicine. 367 (2): 124–34. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1204242. PMID 22738085.
  27. Wojcik, Jeppe (July 24, 2012). "Pharma giant threatens Danish scientist". ScienceNordic.
  28. "Insulin-free syringe firms fined over diabetic death". BBC News. 9 July 2015.
  29. Ford, Steve (9 July 2015). "Firms fined for supplying hospital with faulty syringes". Nursing Times.
  30. Lynch, Sarah N.; Raymond, Nate (March 29, 2019). "Fresenius Medical Care to pay $231 million to resolve criminal, civil foreign bribery charges". Reuters.

Further reading
  • Kamp, Michael / Neumann, Florian: Fresenius – 100 Years. Munich: August Dreesbach Verlag, 2012. ISBN 978-3-940061-84-3.
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