When a Dream Comes True An Illustrated History of 75 Years of Grifols When a Dream Comes True When a Dream Comes True An Illustrated History of 75 Years of Grifols Project management: Rosa Avellà, Berta Miquel Graphic management: Natàlia Archs Text: Josep Nieto, Beatriz Martínez, Maria Ferrer Photographs: Historical Archive, Grifols, S.A. Translation: Tim Gutteridge, Kyra Sheahan Design: Marc Ancochea Proofreading: Irene Aparicio Publishing management: Ton Barnils 1st edition: January, 2015 © Grifols, S.A. Jesús i Maria, 6, 08022 Barcelona Publisher: DAU Doctor Rizal, 5, bajo, 08006 Barcelona, SPAIN ISBN: 978-84-606-6415-4 DL B 6924-2015 “To revere the past is to ennoble the present and to think of the future.” Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Nobel Laureate in Medicine, 1906 This book is dedicated to a number of different groups. Firstly, to all those employees who, over the years, have been at the forefront of the company’s activities. It is their contribution that enables Grifols to manufacture the safe, high-quality medicines and health products that are used to save human lives on a daily basis. Secondly, to those people who have expressed their solidarity with their fellow human beings by generously donating their plasma to improve the quality of life of others. Thirdly, to the millions of patients whose health and well-being are the reason why this company exists. And finally, to the health professionals with whom Grifols continues to work hand in hand to improve the quality of health care. It is a relationship that we hope to carry forward into the future. Contents 11 Prologue: Víctor Grífols Health: Our Commitment 13 Introduction: Neal Ball 36 A Major Boost The Creation of a New Sales Network 44 A New Partner Origins The Decision to Specialize in Plasma-derived Products 16 Family Origins From Homeopathic Medicine 50 The Virus of the Twentieth Century to Clinical Analysis The Appearance of AIDS Profoundly Affects Humanity 22 The Birth of Laboratorios Grifols The Foundation of Laboratorios Grifols and the Association with Dade The Creation of the Grifols Group 58 An Opportunity for Diversification A New Corporate Structure 68 Plasma Safety From the First Blood Bank to Biomat 76 New Production Methods The Long Road to FDA Approval 82 More Practical Containers Parenteral Solutions in Glass and PVC 92 Improving the Quality of Care Automating Hospital Pharmacy Services Industrial Growth and International A Company for People Expansion 148 People Power: Grifols’ Strength 96 Global Horizons A Multicultural Company International Expansion and the First Subsidiaries 154 Committed to Society Philanthropic Endeavor 100 Europe: Accessing New Markets Alpha’s European Subsidiaries 160 Víctor Grífols and Grifols The Architect of a Great Project 104 Masters of their Own Destiny From the Break with Alpha to the Purchase of its Assets 167 The Dream Lives On 110 Industrial Infrastructure 168 Grifols Worldwide Constant Growth 170 Timeline 118 The Automation of Blood Typing New Instruments and Reagents 126 One Step Ahead A History of Research 132 A Dream Come True Becoming a Listed Company 140 Coming to America Entering the World's Largest Plasma-derived Products Market Prologue Fifteen years have passed since we decided to publish A Passion for Life, the book that told the story of the company’s origins and that ended in 1982, when Grifols formed its partnership with Alpha Therapeutic Corporation. Since then, the company has experienced dramatic growth, driven primarily by the internationalization of its business. The group’s present size can only be understood in the context of the company’s recent past: the final decades of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first century, during which it has been transformed from a family firm into a multinational company. And this is why we have decided that the time is right to look back over the past and record our history in a single volume that celebrates the seventy-fifth anniversary of Grifols. This journey covers two of the most significant events in the company’s history. The first was the association with Alpha Therapeutic Corporation, a partnership that enabled us to become serious players in plasma derivatives. And the second was the successful stock market launch in 2006, which provided the platform for growth that culminated in 2011 with the acquisition of Talecris Biotherapeutics, a company that was actually slightly larger than our own at the time. This operation made Grifols the world’s third largest producer of plasma derivatives. Over the last twenty years, Grifols has grown with the vision of becoming a global company. The fact that over half of our employees are now based in the United States is proof that this goal has been achieved. In this book, which I am honored to present, we revisit some of the most significant episodes in this transformation, and in doing so, pay homage to the wishes of my father, Dr. Víctor Grífols Lucas, to leave a written record of our history. It is a history with a fixed objective: to save and improve the quality of life of people suffering from rare or chronic diseases, through the use of our plasma-derived products. While the previous book was primarily the chronicle of a family that had created a business out of its passion for research and its commitment to the quality and safety of its products, this new publication also tells the tale of how this family business transformed itself into a multinational corporation. It illustrates how a family business in which 50 percent of 11 the shares had been owned by U.S. companies (from whom we learned a great deal) became a multinational that maintains its legacy and its identity: the “Grifols spirit”, consisting in a job well done, effort, commitment, and innovation, the demand for quality, and the search for innovative solutions that help improve people’s health. The transformation of the company has affected every sphere of its activity, including organization, manufacturing, research and development, sales, and communications. Sometimes these changes have followed a careful plan, but on other occasions circumstances have required us to take rapid decisions to respond to sudden threats or to seize the opportunities of the moment. However, our decisions have always been supported by all of our employees; a commitment that has been essential to their success. It would of course be impossible to recount every detail of our history, and we have therefore chosen to focus on those whose significance has been confirmed by the passage of time, leaving aside the recent, but no less important, acquisition of the Novartis Transfusional Diagnostics Unit. The appearance of AIDS, the creation of the holding company, the opening of various international subsidiaries, obtaining FDA licenses, and the changes in the shareholders of the company are just some of the events described here. This account draws both on the company’s documentary archives and on interviews with key protagonists, who have provided a first-person perspective on events. Before you read this history, I think it is only fair to recognize that, on some occasions, luck has made a major contribution to the achievement of our goals. However, I would also like to point out that, whenever this fickle friend has crossed our path, he has found us hard at work. To write history is to record the events of yesterday so that we can read about them tomorrow. It is our aim to continue to make our own history and to record it as each day goes by. Víctor Grífols Roura President and CEO Grifols Barcelona, January 2015 12 Prologue Introduction No history is irrelevant; the past is shared by all. We go to it for understanding and guidance. It can be instructive or reassuring. George Santayana, the Spanish-American philosopher, said that those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it. But history also can suggest examples and patterns worthy of extension. When the history being reviewed is that of a modern business enterprise, and the business itself has done the recording, one might presume outcomes. Yet, autobiographies of hardly disinterested historical figures—think of Augustine, Jefferson, Neruda and on and on—reveal them and inform us as no other documents could. There is much to be gained from a business biography, especially when every instinct has been toward candor and accuracy. In contemporary business literature, there are frequent references to some characteristics shared by truly outstanding companies. These organizations are built to be sustainable, they develop ideas internally and are imitated by others, they have a global mindset and make some attempt to change the world for the better; and they are led by entrepreneurs who have a history and involvement in the company and who make decisions based on long-term goals. A shared business culture, including a philosophy that guides the day-to-day activities of everyone in the company, also is characteristic of those organizations. A priority is placed on customer experience and end-user benefit. All personnel are respected as management equals and are listened to. Anyone familiar with business senses the extraordinary effort, insight, investment and cooperation required for accomplishing even a few of those aspects of excellence. Too often such aspirations are reduced to a framed inscription on a board room wall rather than exhibited in the everyday behavior of the company. But in rare instances, one can observe a company whose practices and performance demonstrate that, in some astonishing way, all of those concepts have been carefully planted, consistently nurtured and are flourishing still. That is the story of Grifols. For the many thousands who have been part of a unique history, When a Dream Comes True will evoke a past 13 upon which they are building the future.