Sigma Healthcare Limited is an Australian, ASX-listed company with a focus on the pharmacy industry.[1] The company has pharmacy operations in retail, wholesale and distribution. From its head office in Preston, Victoria, Sigma manages over 1,200 branded and independent pharmacies. Sigma Healthcare owns Australian retail pharmacy brands: Amcal, Chemist Warehouse and Discount Drug Stores. The company also has a presence in the hospital pharmacy services, contract logistics, dose administration aids and other healthcare service adjacencies.
History
Sigma Co. Ltd was established in Melbourne in 1912, by Ernest Leete and Thomas Church, with the endorsement of the South Suburban Chemists’ Association. The impetus for such a move was driven by the high costs of wholesale drugs and medicines at the time, and Leete and Church set about manufacturing their own products for sale exclusively by members of the association. Established as a company to be funded by member subscriptions, initial interest from pharmacists was lukewarm, however Leete and Church persisted with their manufacturing plans. By the end of the first year however, the venture had attracted over two hundred subscribers, who agreed to the formation of a company owned by shareholders. Sigma Company Limited was formally registered on 13 October 1913.
Over the course of the next 80 years, Sigma continued to expand its operations and develop into new markets, including exports into the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. By 1992, Sigma owned assets of $180 million, saw group sales turnover of $600 million and employed more than a thousand people.