A History of Schering-Plough in the UK

Schering-Plough, as it is today, is a global organisation with headquarters based in New Jersey, USA. However, the company has a great deal of heritage in the UK, with roots extending as far back as 1866 when Dr Edmund Adolphus Kirby founded H&T Kirby & Company Ltd. In 1979 the UK subsidiary of Schering-Plough, Warrick Pharmaceuticals, acquired H&T Kirby and a new organisation was formed, namely Kirby-Warrick Pharmaceuticals. The business was predominantly based on ethical pharmaceutical products for GPs. In 1987 the Animal Health Division was launched, followed in September of that year by a Consumer Healthcare Division.

In 1990 the company changed its name to Schering-Plough Ltd and in 1993 the UK operation moved to its current headquarters in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire – one of the major centres of the pharmaceutical industry in the UK. Our combination with Organon BioSciences in 2007 was a further transformational step on Schering-Plough’s continuing journey.

From a small English company with its roots going back more than a century; to a key country operation of Schering-Plough world-wide, the UK organisation has grown to become one of Schering-Plough Corporation’s fastest growing and most important businesses.