40-year milestone for Swiss pharma group

Pharmaceutical group IBSA (Institut Biochimique SA) is marking 40 years under the leadership of President and CEO Arturo Licenziati in 2025, alongside the 80th anniversary of the company’s founding.

Licenziati assumed control of the Lugano-based company in 1985, at a time when IBSA was a small enterprise with 40 employees and annual revenues of 5 million Swiss francs. Over the following decades, the company has grown into an international pharmaceutical group with more than 2,300 staff, 20 subsidiaries across Europe, China, and the US, and distribution networks spanning over 90 countries.

Under Licenziati’s direction, IBSA focused on identifying overlooked therapeutic areas and developing reformulated drugs designed for improved delivery and patient experience. This approach, summed up in the company’s long-standing philosophy of providing ‘drugs in the best form’, has supported consistent growth and product diversification.

“We’ve always focused on unmet needs and simple but meaningful innovations,” said Licenziati. “That has allowed us to grow steadily while staying close to our core values.”

To mark the anniversary, all IBSA employees will receive an additional day of leave on 19 August, commemorating the date Licenziati first joined the company in 1985.

IBSA’s expansion over the past 40 years reflects its strategic pivot from a small pharmaceutical manufacturer in the Swiss canton of Ticino to a multinational player in the life sciences sector.

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