History
CFR History
The origins of CFR Pharmaceuticals S.A. are found in Corporación Farmacéutica Recalcine, whose history is directly related to the history of its founder: Nicolás Weinstein Rudoy, one of the most outstanding entrepreneurs of the Chilean pharmaceutical industry.
Son of Ukrainian parents, Nicolás Weinstein Rudoy was a year old when he arrived in Chile.
His interest in pharmacology moved him to study Chemical Pharmacy at Universidad de Chile. After receiving his degree, when he was only 21 years old, he created in May, 1922, the “Botica Italiana” (drugstore) which is the origin of Corporación Farmacéutica Recalcine.
At the Botica Italiana, located in Santiago de Chile downtown, Nicolás Weinstein Rudoy started marketing imported products and, at the same time, manufacturing his own medicines which he distributed at pharmacies and markets.
The first medicine he created was “Recalcine”, based on calcium. The laboratory and the first line of products of the company, which included several medications that acted as calcium substitutes, such as “Glucorecalcine”, took this name in acknowledgement of its first product.
The creation of the laboratory’s first medicine took place with the acquisition of a house near downtown, which was modified to operate as laboratory and office.
The dramatic growth of the company forced a move to a larger size building in the mid thirties. This time the laboratory premises were located at 362 Santa Isabel Street, where new and important milestones of the pharmaceutical company took place.
Two new lines of business, entirely different from the ones marketed until then, were created at that time through the medical division Recalcine. The first one was the cosmetics line “Vanca”, and the second a popular line with products that were milestones in the company’s development, among them: “Aliviol”, an analgesic of massive use that in a short time became a bestseller in Chile, and “Vitalmin”, a vitamin supplement based on flour.
Always aware of what was happening in developed countries and ahead of the local market, in the fourties Nicolás Weinstein Rudoy introduced sulfa and penicillin for the first time in Chile. From then on, the laboratory started to gain leadership in the introduction of new medicines to the country, becoming the main penicillin supplier.
In 1939, the German company “Bayer” that had launched a massive worldwide campaign for its product Aspirin, became interested in acquiring the market rights of Aliviol, since it was too difficult to compete with the product. After a negotiation period, Nicolás Weinstein Rudoy closed the deal with the multinational laboratory at a very high figure for that time.
As a result of this commercial transaction, the founder of the company made two important investments. The first was the acquisition of a 4-storey building at Vicuña Mackenna Street, where in 1943 the third pharmaceutical plant of the company was built; the second investment was the purchase of “La Rotunda” farm, in Casablanca, V Region.
With the purpose of counting with more resources for manufacturing penicillin and impulse the corporate growth of the laboratory, in 1948 Weinstein sold the farm in Casablanca.
During the fifties, due to the lack of foreign currency, it was very difficult to purchase raw materials in Chile. There was also a strong price control with the intention of decreasing inflation and the bank loans were extremely restricted. Regardless of this scenario, the Company continued growing.
In 1957, Nicolás Weinstein Rudoy, together with his son, Alejandro Weinstein Crenovich, current Chairman of the Board, travelled to Europe with a loan from a German bank that allowed investments. During this trip they bought machinery in Germany, manufactured according to the particular requirements of the laboratory plant, thus generating great development.
During the sixties the Company continued growing, and as a proof of his interior strength and human imagination, Nicolás Weinstein Rudoy was always able to overcome the obstacles and had the vision to discover new unsuspected opportunities.
During the seventies, the founder of the laboratory –as all other entrepreneurs at that time– had to face a particularly difficult scenario.
Nicolás Weinstein Rudoy passed away in 1980, and until his last days he worked with passion and strength in the search of new medicines. After his death, his son Alejandro Weinstein Crenovich continued as the CEO of the Company, position he held from 1963 until 2000, when he was appointed Chairman of the Board and appointed his son, Alejandro Weinstein Manieu, as CEO. Also, during that year his son, Nicolás Weinstein Manieu, was appointed CFO, and Industrial Plants Manager.
International Expansion
In the
early nineties, Corporación Farmacéutica Recalcine started an international
expansion process, in Peru, Colombia, Bolivia and Paraguay. Currently operates
in 16 countries in Latin America, and since 2006 in Asia, through an
strategic agreement with a Vietnamese company.
In 2003 began the construction process of the first plant of a Pharmaceutical Complex, fully operating since December 2005. In 2006 the construction of the second plant at the Complex began, which is currently functioning.
The technology and the high quality standards used at the Pharmaceutical Complex of Laboratorios Recalcine have made it the most modern in Latin America.
During 2010
the assets of the company were incorporated into a new company, CFR
Pharmaceuticals S.A., which was opened to the market though an initial public
offering in May, 2011.
Today, CFR is the leading company in the pharmaceutical market in Chile, characterized by strong innovation, is constantly developing biotechnology projects and clinical studies, supported by the leader academic organizations in Chile and abroad.