| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Pharmaceutical |
| Founded | 1957 |
| Headquarters | Pomezia, Italy |
| Key people | Claudio Cavazza |
| Products | Medicines |
| Revenue | €615 million (2009) |
| Employees | 2441 (2010) |
| Website | www.sigma-tau.it |
Sigma-Tau Industrie Farmaceutiche Riunite, referred to as Sigma-Tau, emerges in 1957 from the entrepreneurial initiative of research chemist Claudio Cavazza. During a period in which multinational companies were consolidating their hegemony in the pharmaceutical sector, Claudio Cavazza conceived the idea of an industrial structure in Italy, capable of permanently competing in terms of production while at the same time bringing innovation to the field of research and pharmaceutical experimentation.
Construction began in 1964 of an industrial facility in Pomezia equipped with state-of-the-art automatic production machinery to provide steady employment for 64 people. The choice of Pomezia for its headquarters created one of the first industrialization and urban development initiatives in an area of Central-southern Italy that had previously been mainly devoted to agriculture. With the creation and launch of the Rekord B12 vitamin complex in September 1966 – an antiasthenic medicine that soon spread within the field of restorative infantile therapies – Sigma-Tau definitively asserted itself as a pharmaceutical manufacturer in Italy and abroad, and entered into the Italian imagination. So much so that it entered into the collective memory of those growing up at the beginning of the 1970s.
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From the 1970s onwards, Sigma-Tau focused on experimenting with new medicines for rare diseases – a commitment that in 1984 would cause it to become the fourth largest pharmaceutical company in the world and assignee in the United States of an Orphan Drug Designation,[1] subsequently receiving another seven. With the discovery in the 1970s of carnitine deficiency syndrome, an illness with a fatal outcome, Sigma-Tau focused the investigative efforts of its laboratories on research into a molecule capable of opposing the disease. This was to bring about the creation of L-carnitine, one of the few Italian pharmaceutical products widely received outside Italy, and which was recognized by the United States in 1984 for its value as a life saving medicine. The chemical and biologic pharmacology study of carnitine, a substance of natural origin, enabled greater understanding of its efficacy in correcting the biochemical and metabolic defects at the base of numerous other pathologies.
Fondazione Sigma-Tau was created in 1986 as a charitable organization with the aim of developing research, promoting scientific and cultural progress and the safeguarding of the results of scientific investigation. With production plants in Spain and the United States, in 2009, Sigma-Tau group was employing 2,441 staff, including over 400 researchers involved in the most advanced sectors of national and international research, in which it reinvests 16% of its turnover.
Sigma-Tau is the main element of a group in which other companies operate, in accordance with the prospects of the corporate development plan.
In 2009, Sigma-Tau group achieved a turnover of 616 million euros, with 2,441 employees and a portfolio of around 150 products marketed in Italy and abroad. Since 1998 it has registered around 300 patents, confirming its status as one of the largest Italian firms with a wholly Italian-owned capital, and a major player in the registration of new molecules and important technological innovations.
Sigma-Tau group is present worldwide with branches in France, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, Portugal, Germany, United Kingdom and India, as well as manufacturing plants in the United States and Spain. Sigma-Tau’s future lies in the ability to expand its presence in the international scene, mainly through the activation of research collaborations with numerous scientific institutions in America, Europe and Asia. This is the background that in January 2010 brought Sigma-Tau group to acquire the pharmaceutical manufacturing arm of American company Enzon, and more precisely four products for the cure of rare diseases within the field of oncology and the production plant of Indianapolis in Indiana. This was directly taken over by the Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals Inc. American branch, with its headquarters at Gaithersburg in Maryland, which is responsible for marketing products acquired on the American market. With continuing commitment, Sigma-Tau became the fourth assignee in the world to obtain an Orphan Drug Designation in the United States in 1984, followed by a further seven. Five new designations have subsequently been requested from the European authorities.
On average Sigma-Tau invests 16% of its turnover in research and development, with the help of a team of around 400 researchers currently employed in a continual research pipeline, and between pre-clinical and clinical development, using 24 different molecules, largely (11) new and original and 16 belonging to Sigma-Tau group. Areas of research are focused particularly on the areas of oncology and immunology, not forgetting the experience and expertise within the cardiovascular, nervous system, and metabolic diseases sectors. Much attention is also reserved for conditions that are rare, neglected and/or with high social impact. To this end, Sigma-Tau in collaboration with the non-profit organization Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) has developed a new medicine for the treatment of malaria a fixed combination consisting of dihydroartemisinin and piperaquine, judged to be one of the most effective antimalaria medicines available and the best combination containing artemisinin. The registration dossier was presented on July 3, 2009 in Europe (EMEA).
Founded in 1982 and active both in the pharmaceutical market and that of consumer products sold in pharmacies. Avantgarde has developed its business within the dermatological, gynaecological and paediatric sectors; for consumer products the focus is geared to dermocosmetic sector and to oral hygiene with OTC products.
Established in 1979 as part of Sigma-Tau group, Biosint is the global leader in the production of L-carnitine obtained by chemical synthesis. Since 1995 its production process is the only to have been awarded approval fby U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), having obtained certification for its DASA-ZERT quality system.
Biofutura was founded in 2001 with the objective of developing pharmaceutical products in the cure of diseases of the central nervous system and respiratory system. Activity also spread to the development and marketing of products derived from the carnitine biological system.
Responsible for the research and development of substances active on important areas of treatment including oncology and immunology and on diseases that are rare, neglected and with high social impact.
Aimed at the study of innovative approaches to therapy for the treatment of important diseases of the cardiovascular system including hypertension and cardiac insufficiency.
A biotechnological research company in the pharmaceutical field authorized to produce monoclonal antibodies and recombinant proteins for use in clinical trials.
Responsible for the clinical development of Sigma-Tau products in the United States.
A recently established research centre that co-ordinates research and development activity relating to selected products and provides clinical development and chemical analytical expertise.
Over the years Sigma-Tau has formed collaborations both with humanitarian organizations with activities abroad and firms working in Italy, helping to achieve important projects. Furthermore, in response to needs arising from conflict and post-conflict crises and the aftermath of natural disasters, Sigma-Tau provides international co-operation organizations with medicines destined for developing countries. In 1986 the board of Sigma-Tau created a foundation with the aim of promoting and disseminating scientific culture and safeguarding the results of research.
In virtue of the particular nature and social importance of the industrial sector in which it operates, Sigma-Tau considers it fundamentally important to act in absolute respect of ethical principles and existing legislation, and make every effort to reach the highest quality standards. To this end, in 2002 Sigma-Tau adopted a Code of Ethics that clearly defines the behavioural rules and ethical principles that must be adhered to by everyone – employees, consultants, suppliers, clients and stakeholders alike. Open-ended contracts are offered to 99% of employees, in testimony to the policy operated by the company to create stable and lasting relations with its workforce. This aspect is also reflected in the period of employment of staff, which averages around 17 years, highlighting the bond of loyalty and trust formed between the company and its staff. In 1967 Sigma-Tau became equipped with a water conditioning plant. Since 2005, the commitment to reduce impact on the environment in the elimination of solvents in aid of water in many preparations has produced continuing reduction in CO2 emissions that have fallen from 5,932 tons to 5,587 in 2007. Since 2007, Sigma-Tau has begun waste sorting and choosing eco-compatible materials. In the same year, in which Sigma-Tau’s environmental costs amounted to around 600,000 euros, a reduction of 8% in the quantity of industrial wastewater was confirmed.
Over the years, Sigma-Tau has developed numerous partnerships, formed with associations and bodies engaged – at national and international level – in projects and activities with a social emphasis, with particular focus on the areas of health and social welfare. The company also provides its medicines free-of-charge to around 40 national and international organizations operating in conflict and post-conflict contexts to support those people stricken by natural disasters and famine. At international level, Sigma-Tau:
At national level:
Sigma and Tau are the two stars that flank Antares at the centre of the Scorpius constellation. Arabs considered the red [[Antares[[the heart of the constellation and therefore regarded the bright stars positioned beside it – Sigma Scorpii and Tau Scorpii – as the arteries leading away from the heart, as indicated by the term that describes them both (Al Niyat, meaning the arteries).