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Company And Drug Manufacture Background

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Company and Drug Manufacture Background GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) are a leading multinational pharmaceutical company. The company’s facilities include research and development sites, biopharmaceutical product centres and manufacturing sites for consumer and prescription products. GSK has headquarters in the United Kingdom and has offices and manufacturing sites in over 100 countries worldwide (with 43 Pharmaceutical and 14 Vaccine manufacturing sites in 26 countries). GSK’s main aim is “improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer”. GSK is currently a merger of several companies which has occurred over the course of over one hundred years. The following is a brief history of the company which outlines significant events and key merger dates. GSK dates back to 1830 when John K Smith purchased a drug store in Philadelphia. John then passed on his business to his son, George and the company was renamed Smith & Company. Over the following years the company became known as Smith and Shoemaker and in 1865, Mahlon Kline joined as a bookkeeper. Mahlon took on various roles and responsibilities and over the coming years the company was renamed Smith, Kline & Company. Around the same time period, Thomas Beecham started his own company, the Beecham’s Pills Laxative Company in the United Kingdom. In 1859, Thomas launched a factory in St. Helens, the world’s first factory built exclusively for healthcare products. [1]

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