BIAL celebrates its centenary in 2024
Initiatives planned throughout the year will mark relationships with employees, partners and the community.
Porto, March 20, 2024 – The largest Portuguese pharmaceutical company was founded in April 1924 in the center of Porto by Álvaro Portela. Led by the fourth generation of the family, BIAL is now an international innovation company, with its own medicines sold on a global scale. The centenary celebrations will last throughout the year, with initiatives involving employees, partners and society in general, including a conference on June 25 in Porto.
Over the course of its century-old history, BIAL has gone through several political periods, including dictatorships and revolutions, moments of major economic and social disruption, wars and technological and scientific transformations, always focused on creating solutions to improve people's quality of life.
Today, BIAL is a solid economic group, one of the main players in the business, industrial and biomedical research scenario at a national level, promoting scientific knowledge and attracting national and international talent. At an international level, BIAL is also increasingly recognized for the discovery and development of new medicines, particularly in the area of neuroscience.
António Portela, the company's CEO, says that “BIAL's centenary is a unique moment in the company's life, but also a milestone for the country”. He adds: “We celebrate the past, the capacity and vision of all the generations that preceded us, but above all, we celebrate the future that we are building. We want BIAL to increasingly establish itself as an innovation group, with medicines that transform the lives of patients around the world”.
To unequivocally mark this historic moment, BIAL presents itself with an image and signature alluding to the date and which aim to reflect the pharmaceutical company's trajectory. 'Inspired by the future' reflects its positioning over the years, in which it has always envisioned the future, namely with its commitment to a long-term R&D project in favor of health and, consequently, the future of people. The centenary image also reflects the pharmaceutical company's values and the group's main aspirations and inspirations: people, science, health and life.
BIAL also wants to highlight its commitment to the future of the country and humanity by celebrating its 100th anniversary. In this sense, it is worth highlighting the organization of a major conference to be held on June 25th in Porto, with the aim of analyzing the challenges facing Portugal and the world, particularly in the economic, social and health areas.
Also within the scope of the celebrations, and in keeping with the desire to contribute to a more complete historiography of the pharmaceutical industry in Portugal, a documentary will be produced that, using the evolution of the company itself as its guiding thread, will also express all the political, social, economic and scientific contexts in which it developed.
With a website dedicated to the centenary already online, at www.bial100years.com, a media campaign is also planned, in addition to several internal activities, which include a commemorative event, visits to the facilities by the children of employees and retired employees, the painting of a mural dedicated to the 100 years and a 100km race, organized by employees, which will link the company's first headquarters in the center of Porto with its current facilities in Trofa.
“When we celebrate 100 years, we renew the entrepreneurial and pioneering vision that has spanned generations and continues to guide us. Our commitment to innovation, which is naturally associated with internationalization, has allowed us to transform the company and, in the last fifteen years, when we launched our epilepsy medication, we more than doubled our revenue. The work, professionalism, commitment and dedication of our people, all those who have worked for the company and those who are now, are the basis of what we have been able to build and the trajectory of development and growth that we want to continue strengthening, always within a framework of innovation”, emphasizes Antonio Portela.
BIAL was the first and is the only pharmaceutical company to market its own research-based and nationally patented medications. Zebinix (eslicarbazepine acetate), aimed at treating epilepsy, has already impacted the lives of 800,000 patients since its launch in 2009. In 2016, BIAL launched its drug for Parkinson's Disease, Ongentys (opicapone), which is marketed in several European countries, the USA, Japan and Australia, among many other markets, and which annually reaches more than 85,000 patients.
At this special moment in its history, BIAL's main goal is to be an innovative biopharmaceutical company with a global presence. On average, in recent years, BIAL has channeled more than 20% of its annual revenue into R&D, which is focused on neuroscience and rare diseases. BIAL has been strengthening its international presence, an area that it wants to strengthen, particularly in Europe and in the most important pharmaceutical markets, such as the USA, China and Japan. Sales in international markets, in around 50 countries, represent 75% of the company's revenue, which in 2023 reached 340 million euros.