History
The company was founded by Eduard Fresenius in 1912.[4] Fresenius died in 1946. His foster-daughter and protégée, Else Kröner, inherited the company after completing pharmacy school. Kröner rescued the company from significant debts by laying off the majority of staff and restructuring the business. Kröner died in 1988. Kröner's will left all of her assets to the Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation for medical research funding.[5]
In 1966, the company began to sell dialysis machines. In 1982, the company converted to a joint stock company. In 1983, the company began producing polysulfone fiber membranes. In 1986, it became a public company, listing shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.[4]
In 1996, the company merged its dialysis business into National Medical Care to form Fresenius Medical Care.[4] In 1999, the company acquired the international nutrition business of Pharmacia & Upjohn and merged it with Fresenius Pharma to form Fresenius Kabi.[4]https://www.fresenius.com/1294 In 2001, the company acquired Wittgensteiner Kliniken, a major operator of private hospitals in Germany.[4] In 2005, the company acquired Helios.[4] In March 2005, Fresenius Kabi AG acquired Labesfal (Laboratório de Especialidades Farmacêuticas Almiro S.A.).[6][7] In September 2006, Helios Kliniken acquired a majority stake in Humaine Kliniken.[8] HUMAINE operates six acute and post acute care hospitals in the fields of neurology, oncology and traumatology.
On 16 July 2007 the company completed its conversion from an Aktiengesellschaft (AG - German public limited company) to a Societas Europaea, the European Union-wide equivalent.[9] The company changed its legal status once again on 28 January 2011, becoming a Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien (KGaA - German partnership limited by shares) with a Societas Europaea as a partner with unlimited liability (SE & Co. KGaA).[10]
In August 2008, Fresenius Kabi acquired 73.3% of Dabur Pharma of India.[11] The following month, it also acquired APP Pharmaceuticals, Inc.[12] In October 2011, the company agreed to acquire 51% of the share capital in Katholisches Klinikum Duisburg hospital.[13] Also in October 2011, Helios Kliniken acquired 94.7% of the share capital in Damp Group.[14] In September 2013, Fresenius acquired 41 hospitals from Rhön-Klinikum for €3.07 billion.[15][16] In 2014, Fresenius sold its 5% stake in Rhön-Klinikum.[17]
In November 2014, the company announced that its Russian partners, Sistema and Zenitco Finance Management, agreed to terminate their joint venture agreement that had been established in April 2014. The termination was prompted by changing political and regulatory circumstances in the region.[18]
In January 2016, Fresenius Kabi announced that it would acquire Becton Dickinson's prescription drug business.[19] In February 2016, Fresenius Helios acquired the municipal hospital in Velbert, North Rhine-Westphalia.[20] In January 2017, Fresenius acquired the largest Spanish hospital group, the Grupo Hospitalario Quirónsalud for €5.76 billion and merged it into the Helios Group, establishing the biggest hospital group of Europe.[21] In September 2017, Fresenius Kabi acquired Merck KGaA's biosimilars business.[22] In February 2019, Fresenius Medical Care acquired NxStage, a US-based maker of in-home dialysis devices, for $2 billion.[23][24] In March 2022, Fresenius joined InterWell Health and Cricket Health to form a new InterWell Health brand focused on services for the earlier stages of kidney disease.
