The Esteve family, owner of the historic Catalan pharmaceutical laboratory, has sold 26% of the company's capital to the German investment group Lubea with the aim of accelerating its growth and international expansion. This operation, which is pending approval from European antitrust authorities, entails the injection of economic resources into the pharmaceutical company, which will allow it to undertake new acquisitions to strengthen key therapeutic areas such as oncology, ophthalmology, and the central nervous system.
"We are pleased to have Lubea on board as a strategic partner. This investment will provide us with the necessary resources to accelerate our growth and expand our presence in international markets, while remaining true to our purpose of improving people's lives through our innovative pharmaceutical products," said Staffan Schüberg, CEO of Esteve.
The Barcelona-based company grew by 15% in 2022, reaching sales of 644 million euros. For the second consecutive year, Esteve achieved double-digit growth as a result of the redefinition of its strategic plan in 2018. That year, the company opted for a new roadmap that led it to sell its generics division to the Japanese pharmaceutical company Towa Pharmaceuticals (2019), to acquire the German pharmaceutical company Riemser (2020), to redesign its innovation model (2020), and to open, in 2022, two new subsidiaries in Portugal and Italy.
At the beginning of 2022, Esteve strengthened its industrial structure with the purchase of the Unión Química Farmacéutica (Uquifa) factory in Lliçà de Vall (Barcelona), which allowed it to increase the production capacity of active pharmaceutical ingredients by 20%. This is a 21,000 square meter complex specialized in the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) that are exported to various countries in Europe, Asia, the United States, and Latin America.
The other major milestone of the last year has been the launch in the United States of Seglentis, a molecule entirely developed by Esteve for the treatment of acute pain in adults.
Esteve's workforce has grown by 16% in the last year, to 1,824 employees worldwide. The group has subsidiaries in Portugal, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy, and production centers dedicated to the development and manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients in Spain, Mexico and China, as well as a pharmaceutical plant in Germany.
Through Grupo Esteve Lifesciences, the Esteve family will maintain 74% share control in the pharmaceutical company, which will allow representatives from Lubea to join its board of directors. In parallel to Esteve, the family owns other businesses such as the skincare company Isdin (50% with the Puig family) and the home respiratory therapies company Esteve Teijin, an alliance also 50% with the Japanese group Teijin Pharma.
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