In the past, people only had a limited amount of plants and special herbs that will help them cure an illness. However, some diseases were too strong and couldn’t be treated with the resources available at the time. Luckily, today we are living in a different world where technological advances have allowed us to live healthier lives. Thanks to the pharmaceutical industry, there are now medicines accessible for all patients. These corporations play an important role in our current society, and that’s why in this article, we will introduce you to the largest Canadian pharmaceutical companies.
Even though pharmaceutical companies and pharmaceutical consulting firms are working towards developing, manufacturing and distributing treatments, a significant amount of people believe that they only bring harm to our society. To change their mind, here are some of the reasons why pharmaceutical companies bring endless benefits to our lives.
Longer life expectancy
Back in 1900, the life expectancy for men and women was only 32 years. Nowadays, that number has more than double thanks to the medicines and treatments available. This is a benefit available not only in the first world nations but also for developing countries.
Eradicate diseases
The main goal for developing new pharmaceuticals is achieving the eradication of dangerous illnesses for the human being. At the moment, rubella, measles and polio are among the seven diseases that are close to being eradicated. This is possible thanks to the global effort for making vaccines available around the world.
Manage pain
Modern medicine allows us to cure most illnesses, but there are still conditions that pharmaceuticals can’t eradicate. However, there are treatments today that can reduce the pain, symptoms and side effects of several diseases. Even though these drugs won’t eliminate the patient’s condition, it does improve their quality of life quality.
Vaccines
Vaccines are probably the most essential product that pharmaceutical companies can offer the public. These substances help to prevent dangerous diseases from spreading and save millions of lives every year. Additionally, the use of vaccines reduces the spending costs of the healthcare system.
As we can see, pharmaceutical companies play a crucial role in the cure of illnesses and the increase of quality of life throughout the world. After talking about the benefits of these corporations. Now it’s time to take a look at the five largest Canadian pharmaceutical companies.
5 large pharmaceutical companies in Canada throughout history
Johnson & Johnson Canada
Johnson & Johnson in the beginning focused on creating surgical dressings and developing sterilization techniques back in 1886. During the first couple of years, the company built its reputation for producing widely available sanitation elements, baby products and cheaper surgical sutures. Before establishing its first factory in Canada, the company had a sales force in the country for three decades.
Then, in 1914 when the First World War started, the company had a high demand to produce surgical supplies. Even when the war ended in 1918, there was a need for more products every day. Finally, in 1919 opened the Gilmour Plant in Montreal, dedicated to international distribution. Today, Johnson & Johnson Inc. Canada distributes products for wound care, oral care, over-the-counter medicine and baby care.
Biovail Corporation
Biovail Corp. was founded by Eugene Melnyk after he sold the medical publishing company Trimel Corp. in 1989. This Canadian pharmaceutical company focused on improving drugs that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had already approved. Further, Biovail worked in the formulation, testing and manufacturing of several pharmaceuticals. The first couple of years, the company has had a rough start. But later it would turn into the largest pharmaceutical company in Canada.
During the time that Melnyk was Chairman and CEO of the company, Biovail Corp had operating facilities in Canada, U.S, Ireland and Puerto Rico. Also, the corporation reached CAN $1 billion of annual revenue under Melnyk’s leadership. Then in 2007, Biovail Corp. was acquired by Valeant Pharmaceuticals.
Novartis Canada
Novartis was created in 1996 with the merger of two companies Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz. In the past Geigy, and Ciba focused on producing dyes while Sandoz was a chemical company. Then these corporations united to create Novartis with the purpose of using science and health to create products that will improve human life. At the moment, Novartis is working on tackling the main healthcare issues, plus, developing treatments for different diseases.
Novartis is delivering products at a global scale with innovative patented medicines through its two business units, Novartis Gene Therapies and Novartis Oncology. Novartis today is a member of the European Federation of Pharmaceuticals Industries and Associations.
Teva
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries started with a little establishment in Jerusalem in 1901 with the objective of helping people live healthier lives. Since then, Teva has turned into one of the largest pharmaceutical companies and is amongst the top 15 in the world. In this modern society, Teva is a leader in generics and biopharmaceuticals distributed to patients in different countries. Today, Teva has 3,500 products in the market that fight infection and manage diseases.
Being the largest manufacturer in the world Teva has facilities in North America, Europe, Australia, Israel and South America. Additionally, currently, Teva is investing a significant part of its budget in the research and development of medicines that will help out hundreds of patients.
Apotex
Apotex is a Canadian pharmaceutical company that produces generic and innovative medicines exported to over 100 countries. The corporation was founded by Dr. Barry Sherman in 1974. Since then, it has turned into the largest producer of generic drugs in the country. Due to its success in the pharmaceutical industry, Apotex can be found in pharmacies and medical centres around Canada. For its quality products, the annual revenue of Apotex exceeds CAN $1 billion.
The generic drugs of Apotex are used to treat conditions such as cancer, diabetes, cholesterol, glaucoma and several infections. Because of its growth, right now, Apotex has different divisions focused on pharmaceutical ingredients, generics, biosimilar development and transdermal solutions, among others.
Many pharmaceutical companies have facilities in Canada and work every day looking for ways to improve our life. Even though, in this article, we only talk about the largest companies in the country, we encourage you to get to know the other pharmaceutical corporations in Canada. Thanks to all of those enterprises, today there is a little light of hope on the eradication of our current pandemic and the important advances to cure diseases such as HIV and cancer.
