Notre Histoire

90 years of expertise working in areas of high unmet medical need.

Founded in 1929 as a family business, Ipsen has almost a century of experience and expertise and focuses in three therapeutic areas: Oncology, Rare Disease and Neuroscience.

 

Ipsen’s Milestones

Period

1929

The Ipsen story begins

Dr. Henri Beaufour founded the Beaufour Laboratories in Dreux. The first product marketed was Romarene®, a rosemary-based medicine intended for the treatment of digestive disorders.

1950

Expansion: new factories & centers

Laboratoires Beaufour underwent a phase of expansion. In 1954, the group launched betaine citrate, used in the symptomatic treatment of dyspepsia. Henri Beaufour’s two sons, Albert and Gérard Beaufour, joined the company.

1960

Expansion: new factories & centers

The group opened a factory in Dreux in 1961, and another in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in 1965. A research center opened in Plessis-Robinson the same year.

1970

The Ipsen brand is launched

Laboratoires Beaufour created a subsidiary, Ipsen, in 1975, and began to internationalize its activities. In 1976, the company opened a research center in Hopkinton (Massachusetts) in the U.S. In 1977, the group launched Smecta®, a diosmectite clay used as a gastrointestinal bandage and anti-diarrheal agent.

1980

Fondation Ipsen created, and Decapeptyl brought to market

In 1983, the group created the Fondation Ipsen under the aegis of the Fondation de France, to encourage exchanges between scientists in the field of life sciences. In 1986, the group launched Decapeptyl®, used to treat certain pathologies influenced by sex hormones, such as prostate cancer, endometriosis, uterine fibroids and early puberty.

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