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| Company type | merged withHoechst AG |
|---|---|
| Industry | Chemicals |
| Founded | 1928; 97 years ago (1928) |
| Founder | Étienne Poulenc |
| Products | Chemicals and pharmaceuticals |
Rhône-Poulenc (French pronunciation:[ʁonpulɛ̃k]) was a French chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in 1928. In 1999, it merged withHoechst AG to formAventis. As of 2015, the pharmaceutical operations of Rhône-Poulenc are part ofSanofi and the chemicals divisions are part ofSolvay group andBayer Crop Science.
The company was founded in 1928 through the merger ofSociété des usines chimiques du Rhône (Society of Rhône Chemical Factories) from Lyon andPoulenc Frères (Poulenc Brothers) from Paris founded by Étienne Poulenc, a 19th-century Parisian apothecary and brought to prominence by his second and third sons Émile, father of composerFrancis Poulenc, and Camille Poulenc (1864–1942). Établissements Poulenc Frères had purchased May & Baker in 1922, the latter continuing to trade under its original name until 1990.
In 1950, the company synthesizedchlorpromazine which it sold to Smith, Kline & French (today part ofGlaxoSmithKline) who marketed the drug as Thorazine.[2] In 1986, Rhône-Poulenc acquired the German pharmaceuticalA. Natterman & Cie GmbH.[3] In 1990, it merged with the pharmaceutical company Rorer to form Rhône-Poulenc Rorer.[4] In January 1999, Rhône-Poulenc merged withHoechst AG to form Aventis. In 2004, Aventis went on to merge with Sanofi-Synthélabo forming Sanofi-Aventis, the third-largest pharmaceutical company in the world. In 2011, Sanofi-Aventis decided to drop the Aventis suffix and change its name toSanofi.
The company was bought by Établissements Poulenc Frères (later to become Société des Usines Chimiques Rhône-Poulenc) in 1922, and subsequently moved to Dagenham, Essex, although it continued to trade under the May & Baker name.
In 1997, its chemicals division was spun off into a separate company namedRhodia and was later acquired by theSolvay group in 2011. The agricultural chemicals division of Rhône-Poulenc, known as Aventis CropScience after the merger with Hoechst, was sold to the German chemical and pharmaceutical companyBayer in 2002.
In 1997 Rhône-Poulenc came to play a central part in what is claimed to be the worst environmental accident in Sweden's history. Rhône-Poulenc suppliedRhoca-Gil for the building of theHallandsås tunnel. The chemical leaked into the artesian water, causing great damage to cattle, surrounding nature and workers at the construction site.Rhône-Poulenc was criticised for not pointing out the risks of using the sealant, which containedacrylamide and is considered to be carcinogenic. Criminal charges were brought against the company and In June 2001, the managing director of the former Rhône-Poulenc Sweden was found guilty of breaching the Chemical Products Act, and was to pay 60day-fines at SEK650 for a total of SEK60,000.[5]
Rhône-Poulenc originally funded theRhône-Poulenc Prizes, now known as theRoyal Society Prizes for Science Books.
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