Laboratoires Pierre Fabre

Laboratoires Pierre Fabre is a multinational pharmaceutical

Pharmaceutical company

The pharmaceutical industry develops, produces, and markets drugs licensed for use as medications. Pharmaceutical companies can deal in generic and/or brand medications. They are subject to a variety of laws and regulations regarding the patenting, testing and marketing of drugs.-History:The...

 and cosmetics company based in Castres

Castres

Castres is a town, commune, and arrondissement capital in the Tarn department and Midi-Pyrenées region of France...

, France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...

, near Toulouse

Toulouse

Toulouse is a city in southwest France on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. With 1,102,882 inhabitants as of Jan...

. The company had a consolidated turnover of 1.43 billion euros ($1.62 billion) in 2003 (including 44% international).

Founded in 1961 by Pierre Fabre, it is present in over 130 countries and has more than 9,000 employees (in 2003), 34% of whom are internationally-based. The company's business activity is focused on research, development, manufacturing and marketing of cosmetics, prescription medicines and family health products.

Laboratoires Pierre Fabre is a multinational pharmaceutical

Pharmaceutical company

The pharmaceutical industry develops, produces, and markets drugs licensed for use as medications. Pharmaceutical companies can deal in generic and/or brand medications. They are subject to a variety of laws and regulations regarding the patenting, testing and marketing of drugs.-History:The...

 and cosmetics company based in Castres

Castres

Castres is a town, commune, and arrondissement capital in the Tarn department and Midi-Pyrenées region of France...

, France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...

, near Toulouse

Toulouse

Toulouse is a city in southwest France on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. With 1,102,882 inhabitants as of Jan...

. The company had a consolidated turnover of 1.43 billion euros ($1.62 billion) in 2003 (including 44% international).

Founded in 1961 by Pierre Fabre, it is present in over 130 countries and has more than 9,000 employees (in 2003), 34% of whom are internationally-based. The company's business activity is focused on research, development, manufacturing and marketing of cosmetics, prescription medicines and family health products. Pharmaceuticals represent 50% of turnover, whereas cosmetics and homeopathy

Homeopathy

Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine, first proposed by German physician Samuel Hahnemann in 1796, that treats patients with heavily diluted preparations which are thought to cause effects similar to the symptoms presented...

-phytotherapy

Phytotherapy

Phytotherapy is the study of the use of extracts from natural origin as medicines or health-promoting agents. Even though phytotherapy is usually regarded as "alternative medicine" in the Western countries, when critically carried out, is considered an essential component of modern pharmacognosy.-...

 represent 42% and 8%, respectively (percentages of 2003 turnover).

Pierre Fabre is best known for its vinorelbine (Navelbine), an anticancer drug of the vinca alkaloid

Alkaloid

Alkaloids are naturally occurring chemical compounds containing basic nitrogen atoms. The name derives from the word alkaline and was used to describe any nitrogen-containing base. Alkaloids are produced by a large variety of organisms, including bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals and are part of...

class.