MacFarlan Smith

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

MacFarlan Smith Ltd.
OwnerJohnson Matthey[1][2]
Websitewww.macsmith.com

MacFarlan Smith is a pharmaceutical manufacturing company based in Edinburgh, Scotland, founded in 1815. After its sale from Johnson Matthey in June 2022 to Altaris Capital Partners,[3] Macfarlan Smith rebranded as Veranova.[4] Veranova is a CDMO specialising in the development and manufacturing of specialist and complex active pharmaceutical ingredients, or APIs. It has facilities across Europe and North America.

Background

J.F. Macfarlan

J.F. Macfarlan Ltd was founded in 1780 as an

alkaloids, from 1870 the production of codeine began in 1886. The company then acquired another site in Northfield, Edinburgh, in 1900 for the production of strychnine.[5]

Duncan Flockhart

John Duncan was born in Kinross in 1780. After serving a five-year apprenticeship in Edinburgh, he moved directly to London, before returning to Perth in 1806 to establish a chemists shop.

After expanding to Edinburgh in 1820, Duncan dissolved the partnership with the Perth shop and started a new partnership in Edinburgh with William Flockhart (also from Kinross), which in 1833 was called Duncan & Flockhart, incorporated three years later.[1] Following the death of John Duncan (c. 1839) the firm was taken over by his son Dr James Duncan. In the same year the firm began to manufacture lactucarium,[1] and from 1847 supplied Chloroform to Sir James Simpson. The firm expanded, and supplied chloroform to both the British Army, Royal Navy and British Red Cross during both world wars.[1] After the start of World War I, the company established a drug growing farm at Warriston, to assure supply.[1]

T&H Smith

T&H Smith was established as a

medical dressings to the British Army. In 1919, T&H Smith bought Glasgow Apothecaries. In 1926, the company acquired John Mackay Chemicals, subsequently incorporating its associated subsidiaries in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.[1]

Foundation

In 1962, T&H Smith bought Duncan Flockhart, and then merged with along J.F Macfarlan to form Edinburgh Pharmaceuticals. In 1965 the

Glaxo Group bought Edinburgh Pharmaceuticals, rebranding it Macfarlan Smith Ltd.[1][2]

In 1958, while trying to develop dental anesthetic

Bitrex,[9] a safety additive for household products such as liquid detergents. Tesco was the first supermarket to display the Bitrex brand on their products.[1][2]

In 1963 the company reproduced Etorphine, in a research group led by Professor Kenneth Bentley.[10]

Bought through a

management buy out in 1990, Macfarlan Smith was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1993 under the holding company Meconic, the Greek language word for poppy.[1][2]

Present

In June 2022, Johnson Matthey sold its Health division (including Macfarlan Smith) to Altaris Capital Partners.[3] The company then rebranded as Veranova.[4] Veranova is involved in the development and manufacturing of specialist and complex active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for pharma and biotech customers. With facilities in Europe, North America and Asia.

In 2001, Johnson Matthey plc bought Meconic, and merged it into its Fine Chemical and Catalysts division.[1][2]

In late 2006, the

diamorphine and recommended consideration.[13] The government's response advocated the status quo, being concerned interference might cause the company to stop production.[14]

The British government has since contradicted the Home Office's suggestion that opium cultivation can be legalized in Afghanistan for exports to the United Kingdom, helping lower poverty and internal fighting whilst helping the National Health Service to meet the high demand for morphine and heroin. Opium poppy cultivation in the United Kingdom does not need a licence, but a licence is required for those wishing to extract opium for medicinal products.[15]

Macfarlan Smith now claims to be one of the world's leading manufacturer of opiate alkaloids. Together with sister companies within the Johnson Matthey group, they can provide full spectrum drug development, from drug discovery through to bulk production.[1][2]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0754633525
    .
  2. ^ a b c d e f "History". Macfarlan Smith. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Johnson Matthey announces sale of Health | Veranova". veranova.com. 6 April 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Johnson Matthey Health Rebrands as Veranova". PharmTech. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  5. ^ "J.F. Macfarlan". gracesguide.co.uk. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  6. ^ "T & H Smith". edinphoto.org.uk. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  7. ^ "Vintage Victorian Advert for T & H Smith's Coffee Essence, Edinburgh, Scotland 1894". Flickr. 3 January 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  8. ^ "Vintage Victorian Advert for T & H Smith's Sparkling Champagne Kola, Edinburgh, Scotland 1894". East Lothian Museums. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  9. ^ "Bitrex(R) — Branded Denatonium Benzoate". Macfarlan Smith. Archived from the original on 17 August 2010. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
  10. ^ Bentley KW, Hardy DG. "New potent analgesics in the morphine series." Proceedings of the Chemical Society. 1963;220.
  11. ^ "UNODC - Bulletin on Narcotics - 1961 Issue 2 - 001". United Nations : Office on Drugs and Crime. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  12. ^ "Poppy Growing". MacFarlane Smith. October 2012. Archived from the original on 8 June 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  13. ^ "Review of undertakings by Macfarlan Smith Limited". Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. March 2006. Archived from the original on 22 November 2008. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
  14. ^ "Opium derivatives - Government response to OFT review of undertakings by Macfarlan Smith Limited (MSL)" (PDF). Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. March 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 December 2009. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  15. ^ The painkilling fields: England's opium poppies that tackle the NHS morphine crisis, Press release Archived 2008-10-10 at the Wayback Machine, 15 September 2007.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MacFarlan_Smith&oldid=1208117919"