History
A Summary
The story of Tillotts starts in London in the 1950's as a family owned pharmacy known as J.B. Tillotts Ltd Chemists. The business gradually expanded to a wholesaler and then an importer of pharmaceutical products.
In the late 70's Tillotts in-licensed the worldwide rights to Asacol® & Colpermin® two patent-protected products for the treatment of IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) and IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome).
In 1981 Tillotts launched Colpermin® in the United Kingdom. In 1984 the company launched Asacol® in Switzerland and a year later in the United Kingdom. Sold initially through marketing partners, the rights to Asacol® were divested to other companies in major markets e.g. in the UK, Benelux, Italy and Switzerland and licensed out in the US and Canada. In 1986 Tillotts Laboratories Ltd, including its leading UK product Colpermin®, were divested and Tillotts moved to Switzerland.
In 1995 Tillotts Pharma AG was sold to Medeva PLC, a multi-national pharma group (now part of UCB).
In 1999 a management buy out (MBO) re-established Tillotts as a privately owned company which, in the following decade, managed to add many new markets including a network of Tillotts affiliates.
On September 1st, 2009 the company was sold to Zeria Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., a mid-sized Japanese pharmaceutical company which already held the marketing rights for Asacol® in Japan.