1942 – 2007
Eczacıbaşı-Zentiva – Over the bridges of Istanbul from Europe to Asia
Süleyman Ferit Bey was the first university-educated pharmacist in Smyrna, and during the first years of the Turkish Republic he was engaged in public service, both intensively and on a long-term basis. In 1909, he was awarded the honorary title of "Eczacıbaşı" or "master pharmacist" for his services. In 1912, he purchased the Sifa pharmacy in Smyrna and began with the production of toothpaste, body lotions, creams and Ferit brand eau de Cologne. In 1934 he was asked to accept the "Eczacıbaşı" title as his surname. His son Nejat Eczacıbaşı returned to Turkey in 1941 after completing his studies of chemistry at universities in Heidelberg, Chicago and Berlin, and a year later he founded a pharmaceutical laboratory in Istanbul. His first product was a vitamin capsule. Turbulent developments then occurred in the period after November 23, 1952 – on that day the company Eczacıbaşı opened the first modern pharmaceutical concern in Turkey. During the following forty years, the concern in Levent, Istanbul increased its production capacity many times and began producing a complete range of pharmaceutical products. In addition to this, the company Eczacıbaşı supported the development of Turkish industry with the expansion of its activities from pharmaceutics to construction material, paper towels, personal health care, capital markets, foreign trade and information technologies. Of course, the company also had many activities in the area of social responsibility. Eczacıbaşı today is a leading Turkish industrial group of approximately 40 companies with almost 9,300 employees and a combined net turnover of 3.2 billion USD (data from 2007). In mid-2007, Zentiva acquired a stake in the pharmaceutical part of the Eczacıbaşı group, which on one hand brought the company membership in a strong Central-European pharmaceutical group, and on the other hand Zentiva thus attained a significant position on the very important Turkish market. |