Fougera celebrates 150th anniversary

E. Fougera & Co. will celebrate its sesquicentennial this year, the Long Island, NY-based generic pharmaceuticals company announced.

The company kicked off its celebration by donating two $2,500 grants to pharmacy degree programs at two local colleges, The Arnold and Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy at Long Island University and the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professionals at St. John's University. The gifts will be used to support students who demonstrate academic achievement, financial need and service to the profession and/or the community.

The company, one of Long Island's largest employers, has always had local ties. Edmond Fougera, a French immigrant, founded it in Brooklyn in 1849. His business began as a pharmacy specializing in European imports and was the first pharmacy to introduce Americans to petroleum jelly.

By 1918, it developed a reputation as the country's "largest wholesale importing house for French and other foreign medicinal preparations and specialties," according to a 1918 article in The Brooklyn Eagle, the local news rag.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Fougera began specializing in the dermatological and urological markets, and it deployed a national sales force. By 1963, the company had attracted the attention of a German company called Byk Gulden GMBH, and the German company acquired Fougera. In 1966, the company entered the generic pharmaceutical market.

Over the course of the past 30 years, Fougera has focused on manufacturing and selling generic creams and ointments, such as Surgilube, Diflorasone Diacetate Cream, Hydrocortisone Rx and Vitamin A & D Ointment. Five of its products are ranked first in market share.

"If you open your medicine cabinet, chances are you will find a Fougera product right there on the shelf," said Stuart Schansinger, the company's buying group sales manager. "We are extremely proud of what we have achieved over our long history, from our roots as a retail pharmacy to our present role as a major generic pharmaceutical manufacturer." PR