Searle pharmaceuticals

Key Dates:

1888:
Gideon D. Searle, a young druggist, founds a pharmaceutical manufacturing concern in Omaha, Nebraska.
1890:
Searle relocates his company to Chicago.
1908:
Searle formally incorporates his venture as G.D. Searle & Co.
1917:
Claude Howard Searle, son of the founder, takes over as president following his father's death.
1934:
The laxative Metamucil is introduced.
1936:
John G. Searle, son of Claude, is named president and CEO.
1941:
Company headquarters are moved to Skokie, Illinois.
1949:
Searle introduces Dramamine, the first motion sickness pill.
1950:
The company goes public.
1963:
A proposed merger between Searle and Abbott Laboratories is called off.
1965:
Searle R & D discovers aspartame, an artificial sweetener.
1966:
Daniel Searle succeeds his father as president of the company.
1973:
Searle merges with Will Ross, bringing Vision Centers (later Pearle Vision Centers) into the company fold.
1977:
Donald H. Rumsfield, former U.S. secretary of defense, is named president and CEO, becoming the first outsider to lead the company.
1981:
The FDA approves aspartame (branded NutraSweet) for use as a table top sweetener.
1983:
The FDA approves aspartame for use in carbonated beverages.
1985:
Divestment of Pearle Vision Centers is completed; Monsanto Company acquires Searle for $2.7 billion, making Searle a wholly owned subsidiary of Monsanto.
1995:
Roche Holding's Syntex women's healthcare product line is acquired for $250 million.
1999:
Arthritis drug Celebrex is introduced in the United States and becomes the most successful pharmaceutical launch in U.S. history; Monsanto agrees to merge with Pharmacia & Upjohn, likely marking the end of Searle's existence as an operating company