1909
First clinical analysis laboratory
The hematologist Josep Antoni Grifols i Roig founds a clinical analysis laboratory in Barcelona: the Instituto Central de Análisis Clínicos, Bacteriológicos y Químicos, a precursor to Laboratorios Grifols.
Founded in 1909 as a small, family-run clinical analysis laboratory in Barcelona, Grifols today is a global leader in the development of plasma-derived medicines and transfusion medicine solutions.
Our unique and remarkable history combines scientific expertise with a desire to serve patients and society. We owe our success to the vision and perseverance of the company's founder, Josep Antoni Grifols i Roig, his sons Josep Antoni and Víctor, and all those who have followed in their footsteps. Our values reflect these qualities and are lived daily by everyone working at Grifols.
Read Grifols' key milestones below.
The hematologist Josep Antoni Grifols i Roig founds a clinical analysis laboratory in Barcelona: the Instituto Central de Análisis Clínicos, Bacteriológicos y Químicos, a precursor to Laboratorios Grifols.
The difficulty of keeping samples sterile drives Grifols i Roig to develop four different models of clinical analysis flebula, an analytical instrument used for extracting blood samples in aseptic conditions.
The First World War generates international interest in the science of blood transfusion. In Spain, Grifols i Roig patents the first instrument for carrying out indirect blood transfusions, the transfusion flebula.
The founding of Laboratorios Grifols by Grifols i Roig and his sons, Josep Antoni Grifols i Lucas, a hematologist; and Víctor Grifols i Lucas, a chemist and pharmacist, begins an era of business dedicated to clinical analysis and the preparation of freeze-dried plasma.
Freeze-drying as a technique for improving plasma conservation becomes a reality under the innovative leadership of Víctor Grifols i Lucas. Against this backdrop, he opens the doors to the first private blood and plasma bank in Spain: the Hemobanco of Laboratorios Grifols.
Víctor Grifols i Lucas takes control of innovation and Josep Antoni Grifols i Lucas of Grifols' scientific research. For the first time in the world, the results of a systematic application of the plasmapheresis technique in humans are published in the British Medical Journal. The study, led by Josep Antoni, includes 320 donors and is presented at the 4th International Congress of Blood Transfusion Medicine.
Víctor Grifols i Lucas and Guillermo Celis found Gri-Cel, a company dedicated to the design and manufacture of laboratory and blood bank instruments, a future pillar of Grifols' growth.
Grifols begins a partnership with Dade Reagents, a North American company that manages blood banks in the United States, directed by hematologist John Elliot. Products are sold across Spain under the brand Dade-Grifols.
Grifols opens a new production plant in Parets del Vallès (Barcelona). The plant includes sections for plasma fractionation, manufacture of parenteral solutions, and scientific instrumentation.
Control of the company is handed down to the entrepreneur Víctor Grifols Roura, a process that finishes in 1987. The holding company Grupo Grifols is created, uniting the commercial company and clinical diagnostic, plasma-derived medicines, and parenteral solutions production companies.
Grifols opens its first subsidiary in Portugal, marking the beginning of decades of international expansion.
With the production plant in Parets del Vallès (Barcelona), Grifols becomes the first Spanish company to receive an FDA license for its installations and a biological product, albumin.
Grifols acquires the company SeraCare, now Biomat, and its 43 plasma donation centers in the United States.
Grifols acquires Alpha Therapeutic Corporation-Mitsubishi, including its plasma fractionation plant in Los Angeles (California).
Grifols begins trading on the Spanish stock market.
The Grifols Academy of Plasmapheresis is launched to train employees in specific disciplines related to the plasma-derivatives industry.
With the acquisition of the North American company Talecris Biotherapeutics, Grifols becomes the third largest manufacturer of plasma-derived medicines in the world and begins trading on NASDAQ.
The acquisition of Novartis' transfusion unit offers integrated solutions across the different processes, from donation to transfusion.
Grifols' President and CEO, Víctor Grifols Roura, who took over from Víctor Grifols i Lucas during the 1980s, hands control of the company to his brother Raimon Grifols and his son Víctor Grifols Deu: Grifols' new Chief Executive Officers.
With the acquisition of Hologic's transfusion unit, Grifols investigates, develops, and produces reagents and instrumentation based on NAT technology.
The acquisition of German company Haema enables Grifols to diversify and expand its network of plasma donation centers outside the US.
Grifols grows its network of plasma donation centers, the largest in the world, with the addition of the FDA-approved Interstate Blood Bank Inc. (IBBI) centers. This includes 26 plasma centers, 9 blood donation centers, and an analytical laboratory.
Grifols closes a strategic alliance with Shanghai RAAS, a leading Chinese company in the plasma-derivatives sector. The agreement provides Grifols an opportunity to further its international expansion and build on its long-term, sustainable growth.
Grifols and Egypt's National Service Projects Organization inaugurates their first plasma donation center, in El Cairo, less than a year after signing a strategic alliance to develop an integrated plasma-supply platform to help achieve self-sufficiency in plasma medicines in the country and region. As part of the agreement, by 2025 the partners will open 19 more donation centers as well as a testing lab and production facilities in the country.
The acquisition of the German plasma-derivatives company Biotest makes Grifols the clear leader in the European plasma industry. The transaction includes a production plant in Dreieich (Germany) and a network of plasma donation centers in Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Museu Grifols is a bridge from the past, into the future of hemotherapy. Find out more about the family business that became a global leader in plasma medicines and transfusion medicine.
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