The story
In 1929, Dr. Henri Beaufour founded the Beaufour Laboratories in Dreux. The first product marketed was Romarene, a rosemary-based medicine intended for the treatment of digestive disorders, discontinued from the market in 2011.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Laboratoires Beaufour underwent a phase of expansion. In 1954, the group launched betaine citrate, used in the symptomatic treatment of dyspepsia. Henri Beaufour's two sons, Albert and Gérard Beaufour, joined the company. The group opened a factory in Dreux in 1961, and another in L'Isle- sur-la-Sorgue in 1965. A research center opened in Plessis-Robinson the same year.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Laboratoires Beaufour created a subsidiary, Ipsen (1975), and began to internationalize its activities. In 1976, the company opened a research center in Milford (Massachusetts) in the U.S. In 1977, the group launched Smecta (diosmectite clay, a gastrointestinal bandage and anti-diarrhoeal agent).
In 1983, the group created the Fondation Ipsen under the aegis of the Fondation de France, to encourage exchanges between scientists in the field of life sciences.
In 1986, the group launched Decapeptyl, used to treat certain pathologies influenced by sex hormones, such as prostate cancer, endometriosis, uterine fibroids and early puberty.
In the 1990s, the group diversified its activity and continued its international expansion. In 1990, an industrial center was created in Signes, in the Var department. In 1992, the group opened a subsidiary in China. In 1994, the group launched Dysport (type A botulinum toxin for the treatment of muscle spasms) after acquiring the British company Speywood (then called Porton International). The same year, the group opened a subsidiary in Russia.
In 1995, the group launched Somatuline, used to treat hypersecretion of growth hormones (acromegaly) and in neuro-endocrine tumors, and in 1996, Forlax was launched.
In 2000, after the death of Albert Beaufour, the company was taken over by his children, Anne Beaufour and Henri Beaufour.
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In 2003, the company changed its name to Ipsen and in 2005, it was listed on the Paris Stock Exchange on Euronext. In 2004, the company inaugurated a new botulinum toxin production unit in Wrexham (UK). In 2007, the company established a partnership with Galderma for botulinum toxin type A products in aesthetic medicine. In addition, somatuline was granted marketing authorization in the United States for the treatment of acromegaly.
In 2007, Ipsen shares were included in the SBF 120 stock market index.
In 2007, Dysport was granted marketing authorization in the United States for certain indications in therapeutic and aesthetic medicine. Decapeptyl 6-month formulation receives marketing authorization in 9 European countries from the European Medicines Agency.
In 2011, Ipsen announced a new strategy focusing on several areas, including a refocus on specialty medicine, research and development and international development. In 2013, Ipsen acquired the British company Syntaxin, a leader in the engineering of recombinant botulinum toxin11. In 2014, the company participated in the creation of a joint laboratory with the CNRS – Archi-Pex -, the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives and the University of Rennes1, with the aim of designing and developing hormone peptides.
In 2015, Ipsen inaugurated a research and development center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In 2016, Dysport Injection was approved in the United States for the treatment of lower limb spasticity in children aged two years and older.
In 2016, Ipsen licensed cabozantinib from Exelixis, which received marketing authorization the same year for the second-line treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma. In January 2017, Ipsen announced the acquisition of certain assets of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, including Onivyde, for the treatment of pancreatic and ovarian cancer.
In 2019, Ipsen acquired Montreal-based Clementia Pharmaceuticals, specializing in rare bone diseases,,,. Clementia brought a drug candidate, palovarotene, to Ipsen for a rare genetic disease, fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP).
In February 2022, Ipsen announced the proposed sale of the Consumer HealthCare (CHC) division after entering into exclusive negotiations with the French laboratory Mayoly Spindler. In July 2022, Ipsen completed the divestment of the CHC business to Mayoly Spindler.
In August 2022, Ipsen successfully completed the acquisition of Epizyme and its lead medicine, Tazverik® (tazemetostat), a first-in-class, chemotherapy-free EZH2a inhibitor for adults with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma (FL), which was granted Accelerated Approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2020. As part of the transaction, Ipsen also acquired Epizyme's first-in-class, oral SETD2 inhibitor development candidate.
In January 2023, Ipsen announced it would acquire rare disease specialist Albireo for $952m, bringing into its portfolio Bylvay (odevixibat), a non-systemic ileal bile acid transport inhibitor for the treatment of paediatric patients with pruritus in progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC).
In August 2023, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Sohonos for the treatment of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), a rare genetic connective tissue disease that causes progressive loss of mobility and shortened life expectancy, in adults and children. It can be used for girls aged 8 years and older and boys aged 10 years and older. The estimated annual cost of the drug is from $624,000. The disease occurs in 1 in 1,600,000 newborns, with about 800 people now known to have the disease.
In February 2024, Ipsen received FDA approval for Onivyde (irinotecan liposome injection), which is used in combination with oxaliplatin, fluorouracil, and leucovorin (NALIRIFOX) for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma (mPDAC). Pancreatic cancer accounts for approximately 3% of all cancer diagnoses in the United States and approximately 7% of all cancer deaths. PDAC is the most common form of the disease, with more than 60,000 diagnoses in the United States each year and approximately 500,000 diagnoses worldwide.
In June 2024, Ipsen received accelerated approval from the US FDA for Iqirvo elafibranor based on positive Phase III ELATIVE trial data. elafibranor is a treatment for primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) in combination with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in adults who have an inadequate response to UDCA, or as monotherapy in patients unable to tolerate UDCA.
In October 2025, Ipsen announced that it had entered into a definitive share purchase agreement to acquire all issued and outstanding shares of ImCheck Therapeutics. ImCheck is a privately held France France biotechnology company specializing in a new generation of immunotherapeutic antibodies.
From Wikipedia’s article on Ipsen, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5