Astra AB

Astra AB is a former international pharmaceutical company headquartered in Södertälje, Sweden. Astra was formed in 1913 and merged with the British Zeneca Group in 1999 to form AstraZeneca. Product development was focused on therapeutics for gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and respiratory disorders and pain control. At the time of the fusion, Astra was the largest Swedish pharmaceutical company. Astra also operated Astra Tech, a medical devices company, and marketed pharmaceuticals outside their primary development area, including anti-infective agents.

The issue of domestic industrial production of pharmaceuticals in Sweden, as opposed to manual preparations by pharmacists, was discussed among Swedish pharmacists since mid-1890s. At this time, German and Swiss pharmaceutical companies dominated the Swedish market. For a long time, this never led to more than discussions, but in 1913 Astra was founded in Södertälje, and plans to produce some 40 pharmaceutical preparations were already drawn up. Pharmacist Knut Sjöberg became the first CEO of the company.

In 1918, dye-producer AB Svensk färgämnesindustri (ASF) bought Astra. ASF planned to create a large Swedish chemical group rivalling those in continental Europe. However, ASF was unsuccessful, and the company soon had large financial problems and was liquidated in 1920. Astra was bailed out and acquired by the Swedish government through its monopoly liquor-producing company Vin- och spritcentralen, with the intention to form a national monopoly for pharmaceutical production. These plans met with resistance, and therefore a Swedish merchant, Erik Kistner, formed a consortium which bought debt-ridden Astra back from the government for a symbolic price of one krona. The consortium included banker Jacob Wallenberg, and the Wallenberg family since continued to have a stake in the company.

Under long-serving CEO Börje Gabrielsson, who led the company until 1957, Astra showed profit from 1929 and grew continuously. In the 1930s, Astra started to conduct its own research, initially on a very small scale, rather than just manufacturing existing pharmaceutical preparations. The sulfa drug Sulfathiazole was one of the results of these research activities. The company Tika was acquired in 1939, and the pharmaceutical factories of Paul G. Nordström in Hässleholm (later renamed to Hässle, and operated as a division of Astra) in 1942. This established Astra as the leading Swedish pharmaceutical company.

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