The History of American Home Products :: American Home Products Corporation Essays

The History of American Home ProductsAmerican Home Products Corporation (AHP) was founded in 1926 and has a history of continuous acquisitions of smaller companies that make proprietary medicines. In 1931, AHP purchased toilet Wyeth & Brother, Inc. from Harvard University. Another important acquisition was that of Canadas Ayerst Laboratories in 1943. Ayerst was a large pharmaceutic company that had introduced Premarin, the worlds prime(prenominal) conjugated estrogen product, and straight the most widely prescribed product in the United States (ahp.com). In March of 1982, Sherwood Medical was acquired, enabling AHP to capture a share of the developing medical devices market. In 1984, Whitehall, an original member of AHP, started to market ibuprofen in the United States that was sold under the trademark Advil. Lawyer John Stafford became CEO in 1986 and soon after he supervised the acquisition of Bristol-Meyers animal health division and assimilated the new business into Fort Dodge , now Fort Dodge Animal Health. In 1989, AHP bought A.H. Robins along with its popular consumer products, including Chap Stick, Dimetapp, and Robitussin. AHP and American Cyanamid merged in 1994 in a deal wanted at $9.6 billion. AHP introduced many new products in 1996, including Redux and Pondimin (Phen-Phen), two weight-reduction drugs. These drugs were later pulled from the market because of links to serious health problems and lawsuits soon followed. When 1998 mega-merger plans with SmithKline Beecham and Monsanto collapsed, AHP settled for the acquisition of hot Jersey based Solgar Vitamin and Herb Company for $425 million. Its clear to see that AHPs history is comprised of acquisitions in the desire to be the ultimate leader of the pharmaceutical industry. MarketingAmerican Home Products has a suprisingly vast array of products. From womens health care products to agricultural goods to animal health care products, AHP covers a physical body of pharmaceutical needs. Wyeth-Ay ersts research, products, and educational initiatives benefit millions of women. Premarin, the most widely prescribed medication in the United States, is a post-menopausal product that gained AHP notoriety when it was introduced in 1996. Wyeth-Ayerst as well as introduced Alesse in 1997, a low-dose oral contraceptive formulation that has become very popular in the birth control field. Wyeth-Ayerst also focused its research on cardiovascular therapies and mental health products. Its cardiovascular research concentrates on medication for diseases such as arrhythmia and hypertension. Their anti-arrhythmia franchise leads the U.S. market, reflecting Wyeth-Ayersts and AHPs recognition of flagitious ventricular arrhythmia (Tardiff 114).