A family business
Over a century ago, doctor and homeopath Josep Antoni Grifols Morera enthused his son with a passion for science in the family's Barcelona home. It was here that young Josep Antoni Grifols i Roig later built his laboratory, and ultimately his business, with the help of his own sons.
The name of that laboratory was "Instituto Central de Análisis Clínicos, Bacteriológicos y Químicos". Opened by Grifols Roig with the help of some fellow university graduates in 1909, it was to become the genesis of the Grifols company.
In the 1920s Josep Antoni took full charge of the laboratory, which was mostly dedicated to clinical analysis and the manufacture of vaccines at the time.