Established by a group of Italian scientists in the late 1960s, Eurand NV was one of the world's first drug delivery service companies, focused on oral drug delivery technologies. First acquired by the US OTC firm AH Robins in 1980, Eurand became part of American Home Products Corp. (now Wyeth ) following AHP's takeover of Robins in 1989 and remained there for 10 years, strategically marginal, but profitable.
In 1994, Gearoid Faherty, then managing director of Wyeth's Fort Dodge Laboratories division, was appointed CEO of Eurand. At that...