BIAL was founded in 1924, and it has been making progress in the research, production, and marketing of medicinal products for over 95 years. In the late 70s, the company’s established strategy was clearly that of a long-term development, which was based on three strategic pillars: Quality, Innovation, and Internationalisation.
In the late 1992, the company’s Research and Development Department was created. The foundations were therefore laid for BIAL as we currently know it. Throughout the years, supported by the Quality of its products, processes, and services, the company grew in the Portuguese market, and later on, in international markets, while investing in R&D, in the research of its own medicinal products.
BIAL is currently channelling more than 20% of its annual turnover to R&D, which focuses on neurosciences and cardiovascular systems’ research, and is based on a structure of more than 100 employees from 9 countries, 44 of which hold a PhD. From 1993 up to now, the company has synthesised over 15,000 new molecules and patented 7 new medicinal products on a worldwide basis.
In 2009, BIAL launched an anti-epileptic drug (eslicarbazepine acetate), which represents a milestone for the Portuguese pharmacy industry. Enhancing the sustainability of the company’s R&D programme, BIAL launched its second medicinal product in 2016, a new treatment for Parkinson’s Disease (opicapone).
These two innovative drugs have contributed for BIAL to become one of the 27 European Union pharma companies to be capable of providing new therapeutic solutions for humanity over the last decade. BIAL maintains a strong R&D programme, which aims at strengthening its portfolio of innovative products, and continues the programme to develop its own medicinal products, as well as other projects in the field of neuroscience and cardiovascular systems.
By investing on innovation, the company has been able to speed up its internationalisation process. BIAL currently has affiliates in 9 countries and has products in more than 50 countries in Europe, Africa, America, and Asia.
BIAL is currently licensing and exporting its own technology through products that it has researched and plays an active role in the healthcare of millions of people around the world. As a result of a strategic investment made over 25 years ago, BIAL expects to continue providing new medicinal products and reinforcing its international presence by meeting the challenges that medicine and healthcare face, hence providing a better and longer life.
