Our origin
Foundation and beginning
1933
Josef Popp, a trained engineer and grandfather of the current owner of the company, Prof. Dr. Michael A. Popp, establishes Bionorica in Nuremberg. Josef Popp develops a profound interest in medicinal plants after a naturopath successfully cures his war wound. He immerses himself in the literature on all the research available at that point and meticulously gathers all the available information. At first he only distributes the first herbal remedies and around 375 different types of tea among his friends and colleagues, and then starts to sell them on the public market.
Sinupret®, the first product produced by Bionorica, is now the top-selling phytopharmaceutical product in Germany. Josef Popp lays the foundation for the modern phytotherapeutic preparations produced by Bionorica with his descriptions of botanical active substances.
1945
Josef Popp’s children, the pharmacist Erna Popp and Dr. Hans-Oskar Popp, a physician with an interest in naturopathy, take over second-generation management of the company and move the development of the company forward despite the austerity of the post-war years. Erna Popp increases production of the preparations up to an industrial scale and organizes the marketing programme. Dr. Hans-Oskar Popp, with his many years of practical experience as a doctor, provides important impetus for the further development of Bionorica preparations.
1961
Erna and Hans-Oskar Popp move their two-person company to new premises: from one 30 m2 room to a new building where, for the first time, they have a bottling machine, a labelling machine and, finally, also their first employees.
Progress and research
1970
Bionorica builds up its specialist sales force for personal consultations with private practice physicians.
1979
Research takes on ever greater importance within the company. Bionorica is one of the first pharmaceutical companies to begin testing herbal medicines in controlled double-blind studies.
1988
The grandson of the company founder, Prof. Michael A. Popp, takes over the management of the production facility (Plantamed Arzneimittel). At the same time, the company moves from Nuremberg to Neumarkt / Upper Palatinate, as the buildings in the centre of Nuremberg have become too small for the production facilities needed for its projected future development.
1989
Prof. Michael A. Popp also takes over the management of Bionorica GmbH. The then 28-year-old pharmacist systematically follows the family company's chosen course, and undertakes intensive research into cultivation of medicinal plants, analytics, pharmacology, toxicology and clinical use.
1990
Bionorica GmbH also moves to Neumarkt. Under Michael Popp’s leadership, Bionorica becomes a worldwide innovator in phytomedicine.
Internationalization and expansion
1993
International operations that began in the early 1990’s result in the foundation of two subsidiary companies in Hungary: Herbextract and Mediplant in Budapest. From this point on, Bionorica's own plants are cultivated there.
1995
International operations are promoted further through collaboration with national and international distributors. Bionorica Extracts S.L. is founded on Mallorca, where medicinal plants are cultivated and special extracts are manufactured.
1996
A highlight of Bionorica research: The previously unknown but significant role of sorrel in the anti-inflammatory action of the product Sinupret® is discovered. In addition, the antiviral effects of primrose and verbena are proven.
1997
Sinupret® and Sinupret® forte are issued with new marketing authorization in Germany. Both Bionorica products cleared this difficult regulatory burden.
In the same year, Bionorica begins growing its own thyme on Mallorca in order to obtain optimal raw materials to use in the manufacture of Bronchipret®. From seed selection to cultivation and the production of extracts, Bionorica standardizes all production processes to the highest quality standard. The company establishes a subsidiary in Moscow; others follow in Minsk and Kazakhstan.
Establishment and growth
1999
In addition to products for respiratory diseases, gynaecological products are among the company's most successful preparations. Through intensive research on vitex agnus-castus, or the chaste tree, Bionorica succeeds in identifying the active substances in the chaste tree that reduce prolactin levels in women and thus actively combat menstrual disorders and mastalgia.
2001
Bionorica becomes a limited company. The company’s recipe for success, the combination of phyto (derived from phyto for plants) and engineering (the application of cutting-edge technology and scientific methods) is expressed in the company's new slogan: BIONORICA AG - The phytoneering company. Another subsidiary is established in Kiev.
The company takes over Delta-9-Pharma GmbH. Its legal status is changed at a later date (2007) and it is renamed Bionorica Ethics GmbH.
2002
In June, Delta-9-Pharma introduces the most pharmacologically important active substance from the hemp plant onto the German market. Because of its multiple actions, the cannabinoid can be used in pain therapy, the symptomatic treatment of multiple sclerosis and in adjuvant therapy to cancer and HIV.
2003
In September, Bionorica AG celebrates its 70th birthday and the Bavarian Minister-President, Dr. Edmund Stoiber, visits the company.
2005
Bionorica Research GmbH is founded in Innsbruck. This facility is exclusively devoted to research and development on herbal medicines and its main focus is on the areas of respiratory tract diseases and chronic pain. It is the first private facility of its kind in Austria.
2006
The subsidiary company Phytoland GmbH is founded. The company specializes in nutritional supplements for the prevention of disease and maintenance of good health.
2007
Prof. Popp founds the non-profit foundation “Phytokids”. The "Phytokids Stiftung" is active in places where sick and lonely children are lacking the most basic support. The aim of the foundation is to help, care for and support children and adolescents in hospitals and children’s homes the world over. The first projects are set up in Eastern Europe.
Bionorica Ethics GmbH is founded on 15 June, created out of the company Delta-9-Pharma GmbH. Bionorica Ethics GmbH develops new medicines and active substances for applications in oncology and pain therapy.
In July, Bionorica AG's new administration building is inaugurated, a building that is in complete harmony with the environment. The combination of its innovative energy technologies (e.g. photovoltaic systems, combined heat and power units fired with renewable resources) and intelligent materials (e.g. bi-component fibre carpets) serves as a milestone in building concepts for its eco-effectiveness, environmental friendliness and employee health and safety, and is an expression of the company philosophy.
2008
Bionorica AG celebrates its 75-year history. Michael Glos, German Federal Minister of Economics and Technology, visits the company on the day. Other personalities from the world of business and politics join Bionorica staff to celebrate this anniversary.
2009
On 17 July, Germany's Federal Chancellor, Angela Merkel, visits Bionorica AG. On a tour of the manufacturing facilities and in personal conversation with Professor Popp, Germany's Federal Chancellor is given an insight into Bionorica’s intensive research programme and the production of herbal medicines. In her address to the employees of Bionorica AG, she emphasizes the importance of medium-sized companies to the German economy.
2010
Bionorica AG is transformed into a Societas Europaea: Bionorica SE. This change in the company’s legal status reflects the international development within the company.
In June 2010, Bionorica’s herbal medicines are successive given a new package design. The design, developed over several years and given a highly positive rating in national and international consumer surveys, emphasizes the high quality standard and botanical origin of the preparations.
The redeveloped company logo - a green leaf embedded in a blue coloured circle - symbolizes the Bionorica brand’s quality-related philosophy: scientifically proven efficacy and tolerability for the herbal therapeutic agents. For the first time, the products are marked with a three-dimensional seal of originality, an innovation in the market for over-the-counter medicines.
