Galenicum, the main producer of paracetamol in Spain, opens new offices and R&D center in Esplugues de Llobregat. The Catalan pharmaceutical company has invested more than 10 million euros in renovating the old industrial warehouse where it has set up. The new headquarters is part of the growth plan faced by the company founded in 2003 by Erich J.W. Büchen, Alejandro Ollé and Joaquim Domingo, still the main shareholders and managers of the company, which allowed the entry of the private equity fund Peninsula Capital last year, with a 20%. For the coming years, the company plans to increase turnover, from the 140 million euros it registered in 2021 to 300 million by 2025.
The new facilities have a total area of 4,000 square meters, which are divided into a 900 square meter reception, with a multifunctional space; the 2,000 square meter offices; and the R&D center and its 960 square meter laboratory. This last area also includes a gym. The rehabilitation of the building, formerly a printing press, was carried out by the HARQUITECTES studio, while the laboratory was designed and executed by the Hiblab team.
"Today is a great day for us, because these new headquarters will help us continue to consolidate our growth objectives, focusing on more research and development," said Erich J.W. Büchen during the inauguration of the space. Galenicum has a broad portfolio of pharmaceutical active ingredients and generic medicines, focused on essentials such as Paracetamol or Ibuprofen, mostly produced from its plant in San Agustín de Guadalix (Madrid), bought at the time from the pharmaceutical company MSC. It is also responsible for distributing them and is focused on other, more specialized products, such as injectables, antidiabetics or anticoagulants.
With a global workforce of 600 employees and commercial presence in 50 countries, about 150 employees will work in Galenicum's new offices in Esplugues. Until now, they had been divided into two different centers, one already in Esplugues, on Avenida de Cornellà, and another in Barcelona, on Avenida Diagonal. The company ended up opting to unify teams and, in 2019, bought the building for the new headquarters, located on Sant Gabriel street in Esplugues. "We fell in love with this warehouse, an old warehouse where maps and books specialized in art were mainly printed. It was an open space with light, in an urban environment and well located with respect to Barcelona and the airport," Büchen remarked. The pandemic and the remodeling itself extended the deadlines for the definitive move that has just taken place.