Block Drug

Block Drug Company
	A pharmacy in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City (2012)
Industry	Pharmaceutical
Founded	1907;116 years ago
Defunct	2001;22 years ago
Fate	Acquired
Successor	GlaxoSmithKline (now GSK plc)
Headquarters	Jersey City, New Jersey, United States
Key people	Alexander Block, Leonard Block, Thomas Block, Michael P. Danziger
Products	Polident, Poli-Grip, Dentu-Creme, Nytol, Tegrin, Lava Soap, Beano, Phazyme, Balmex, Sensodyne
Number of employees	3,000

Last updated September 16, 2023

Block Drug Company was a pharmaceutical company based in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, that specialized in dental care products. Its most popular products included Polident denture cleanser, Poli-Grip denture adhesive, Dentu-Creme denture toothpaste, Nytol sleeping pill, Tegrin medicated shampoo for psoriasis, Lava hand soaps (acquired from Procter & Gamble), Beano and Phazyme anti-gas products, Balmex diaper rash ointments, and Sensodyne desensitizing toothpaste.^[1]

History

The company was founded in 1907 by Alexander Block, a Russian immigrant who had a small drugstore on Fulton Street in Brooklyn, New York. He turned the company into a wholesaler in 1915, then became a drug manufacturer in 1925, acquiring a 50 percent interest in Wernet's Dental Manufacturing Company.^[1]

Block Drug moved its headquarters to Jersey City, New Jersey in 1938.^[4]

Although Alexander Block built the company largely through acquisitions, he developed the Polident brand internally during the 1930s.^[5] In 1948, Block Drug rolled out the Ammi-i-Dent tooth powder, and in the early 1950s, the company developed Nytol.^[6] After Alexander Block's death in 1953,^[5] his son Leonard N. Block (1911–2005)^[4] took over, eventually becoming the company's chairman.^[5] The last major new product the company introduced was Tegrin, in 1964.^[5]

Timeline

1971– The company went public, trading on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol BLOCA and raising $5.2 million in its initial offering.^[6] Two years later, another stock sale generated $23 million.^[6] Later in the 1970s, Efferdent took over from Polident as the No. 1 brand in its space.^[5]
1972– Block named as its president James Block, who was the grandson of Alexander Block and the nephew of Leonard N. Block.^[5] In 1988, James became chairman as his uncle, Leonard N. Block became senior chairman.^[6] At the same time, Leonard N. Block's son, Thomas, became the company's president.^[6]^[7]
1978– Block Drug entered the feminine hygiene market, with the ultimately unsuccessful Gentle Spring brand.^[8]
1982– The company acquired Phazyme/700 from the Stuart division of ICI, leading to the OTC entrance of Phazyme.
1983– The company acquired Passaic, New Jersey-based 2000 Flushes toilet bowl cleaner manufacturer Flushco.^[6] In 1985, Block Drug acquired the X-14 line of hard surface cleaners from White Laboratories.^[6] Block Drug later acquired Gold Bond in 1987.
1990s– Sales began to fall as Block Drug's products began to age and face new competition, and the problem was exacerbated by a lack of new products.^[6]
1990– Block Drug sold Gold Bond to Martin Himmel Inc..
1995– Block Drug divested its U.S. Reed and Carnrick Pharmaceuticals Division to Schwarz Pharma KermersUrban and also purchased Reckitt and Colman's Carpet Fresh and Rug Fresh cleaning and deodorizing products.^[7]
Late 1995– The company acquired the Lava soap brand from Procter & Gamble.^[7]
1996– Block Drug purchased the Baby's Own line of baby care products, and then acquired Beano antigas tablets in 1997.^[7]
1998– A major restructuring took place but was not successful.^[6] As part of that, the company divested Carpet Fresh, Rug Fresh, 2000 Flushes and X-14.^[7] Lava was later sold to WD-40 Company the following year.
1999– The company acquired Salisbury, N.C.-based Stanback Co., manufacturer of Stanback headache powder products.^[9]
2000– Block Drug hired Goldman Sachs as an adviser to evaluate a potential sale.^[10]
2001– At the time of its sale to Glaxo, Block Drug was reported to have $900 million in annual sales, operations in 100 countries and employed 3,000 people.^[2]

Secrecy

Although Block Drug was a public company from 1971 until 2001, it operated much like a private, family-run firm, with the Block family holding all voting shares plus 54 percent of the non-voting stock. In addition, the company never held annual meetings or issued proxy statements.^[6]

Aftermath

Leonard N. Block died in 2005 at age 93 after suffering for years from Alzheimer's disease.^[4] Block's nephew John P. Roberts was the producer of the Woodstock Festival using money from his Block inheritance.

Related Research Articles

GSK plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham, GSK is the tenth largest pharmaceutical company and #294 on the 2022 Fortune Global 500, ranked behind other pharmaceutical companies China Resources, Sinopharm, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Roche, AbbVie, Novartis, Bayer, and Merck Sharp & Dohme.

Crest is an American brand of toothpaste and other oral hygiene products made by American multinational Procter & Gamble (P&G) and sold worldwide. In many countries in Europe, such as Germany, Bulgaria, Serbia, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Romania, Estonia and Lithuania, it is sold as Blend-A-Med, the name of an established German toothpaste acquired by P&G in 1987. In France, Italy, Israel, Sweden, Finland, Argentina, Belgium, the Netherlands, Brazil, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Australia, Nigeria, Greece, Uruguay and Colombia, P&G markets similar toothpaste formulations under the Oral-B brand.

The Golden Mile is a stretch of the Great West Road north of Brentford running west from the western boundary of Chiswick in London, United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranitidine</span> Medication that decreases stomach acid

Ranitidine, sold under the brand name Zantac among others, is a medication used to decrease stomach acid production. It is commonly used in treatment of peptic ulcer disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and Zollinger–Ellison syndrome. It can be given by mouth, injection into a muscle, or injection into a vein. In September 2019, the probable carcinogen N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) was discovered in ranitidine products from a number of manufacturers, resulting in recalls. In April 2020, ranitidine was withdrawn from the United States market and suspended in the European Union and Australia due to these concerns. In 2022, these concerns were confirmed in a nationwide population study "ranitidine increased the risk of liver", lung, gastric and pancreatic cancer by 22%,17%, 26% and 35%, respectively. It increased overall cancer risk 10%, p < 0.001.

Beano is an enzyme-based dietary supplement that is used to reduce gas in the digestive tract, thereby improving digestion and reducing bloating, discomfort, and flatulence caused by gas. It contains the enzyme alpha-galactosidase (α-GAL). It was introduced as a liquid, but that has been discontinued and it is now available only as tablets and strawberry-flavored "Meltaways".

Prestige Consumer Healthcare Inc. is an American company that markets and distributes over-the-counter healthcare and household cleaning products. It was formed by the merger of Medtech Products, Inc., Prestige Brands International, and the Spic and Span Company in 1996. The company is headquartered in Tarrytown, New York and operates a manufacturing facility in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Sterling Drug was an American global pharmaceutical company, also known as Sterling Winthrop, Inc. in its last years. It was formerly known as Sterling Winthrop Pharmaceuticals, whose primary product lines included diagnostic imaging agents, hormonal products, cardiovascular products, analgesics, antihistamines and muscle relaxants.

Sensodyne is a brand name of toothpaste and mouthwash targeted at people with sensitive teeth. Sensodyne is owned by Haleon and is marketed under the name Shumitect in Japan.

The Beecham Group plc was a British pharmaceutical company. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Beecham, after having merged with American pharmaceutical company SmithKline Beckman to become SmithKline Beecham, merged with Glaxo Wellcome to become GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). GSK still uses the Beechams brand name in the UK for its over-the-counter cold and flu relief products.

Reliant Pharmaceuticals was a company purchased by GlaxoSmithKline in December 2007 for $1.65B. Co-founded by Joseph J. Krivulka.

S. E. Massengill Company was a pharmaceutical company founded in 1898 by Samuel Evans Massengill, who graduated from the University of Nashville Medical School but decided to manufacture drugs rather than practice medicine himself. By 1937, it employed more than two hundred people in Bristol, Tennessee, including six graduate pharmaceutical chemists.

The pharmaceutical industry in the United Kingdom directly employs around 73,000 people and in 2007 contributed £8.4 billion to the UK's GDP and invested a total of £3.9 billion in research and development. In 2007 exports of pharmaceutical products from the UK totalled £14.6 billion, creating a trade surplus in pharmaceutical products of £4.3 billion.

Wyeth was a pharmaceutical company until it was purchased by Pfizer in 2009. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as John Wyeth and Brother. Its headquarters moved to Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and Madison, New Jersey, before its headquarters were consolidated with Pfizer's in New York City after the 2009 merger.

Pharmaceutical fraud involves activities that result in false claims to insurers or programs such as Medicare in the United States or equivalent state programs for financial gain to a pharmaceutical company. There are several different schemes used to defraud the health care system which are particular to the pharmaceutical industry. These include: Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Violations, Off Label Marketing, Best Price Fraud, CME Fraud, Medicaid Price Reporting, and Manufactured Compound Drugs. Examples of fraud cases include the GlaxoSmithKline $3 billion settlement, Pfizer $2.3 billion settlement, and Merck $650 million settlement. Damages from fraud can be recovered by use of the False Claims Act, most commonly under the qui tam provisions which rewards an individual for being a "whistleblower", or relator (law).

Parodontax is a brand name of toothpaste and mouthwash currently owned by Haleon, previously GSK.

Haleon plc is a British multinational consumer healthcare company with headquarters in Weybridge, England. It is one of the largest consumer healthcare businesses in the world, with brands including Sensodyne toothpaste, Panadol and Advil painkillers and Centrum vitamins. The company is a global leader in over the counter medicines with a 7.3 percent market share.

References

1 2 The Gale Group. International Directory of Company Histories, republished at "Block Drug Company, Inc.: Information from Answers.com". Answers Corporation.
1 2 GlaxoSmithKline Completes the Purchase of Block Drug for $1.24 Billion Prnewswire (January 16, 2001)
↑ Hall, John. "Briefing: Pharmaceuticals; Drug Company" The New York Times (October 15, 2000)
1 2 3 Saxon, Wolfgang (2005-11-12). "Leonard Block, 93, Chief of Drug Company, Is Dead". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
1 2 3 4 5 6 "New Chip at the Old Block?". Forbes. May 29, 1978. p. 48.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Goldblatt, Dan (September 7, 1994). "New Jersey's most private public company". Northern Business. p. 48.
1 2 3 4 5 "History of Block Drug Company, Inc. – FundingUniverse". www.fundinguniverse.com.
↑ "New Chip at the Old Block?". Chicago Sun-Times . May 29, 1978. p. 48.
↑ "Stanback to leave Rowan". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2019-05-28.
↑ Clark, Andrew (October 7, 2000). "SmithKline to swallow Sensodyne: Aquafresh maker lines up Dollars 1.2bn bid for privately owned toothpaste company Block Drug". The Guardian (London). p. 29.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[answers.com-1] 1 2 The Gale Group. International Directory of Company Histories, republished at "Block Drug Company, Inc.: Information from Answers.com". Answers Corporation.

[cyperus.com-2] 1 2 GlaxoSmithKline Completes the Purchase of Block Drug for $1.24 Billion Prnewswire (January 16, 2001)

[3] Hall, John. "Briefing: Pharmaceuticals; Drug Company" The New York Times (October 15, 2000)

[Saxon-4] 1 2 3 Saxon, Wolfgang (2005-11-12). "Leonard Block, 93, Chief of Drug Company, Is Dead". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-26.

[New_Chip_at_the_Old_Block-5] 1 2 3 4 5 6 "New Chip at the Old Block?". Forbes. May 29, 1978. p. 48.

[Goldblatt_48-6] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Goldblatt, Dan (September 7, 1994). "New Jersey's most private public company". Northern Business. p. 48.

[fundinguniverse.com-7] 1 2 3 4 5 "History of Block Drug Company, Inc. – FundingUniverse". www.fundinguniverse.com.

[8] "New Chip at the Old Block?". Chicago Sun-Times . May 29, 1978. p. 48.

[9] "Stanback to leave Rowan". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2019-05-28.

[10] Clark, Andrew (October 7, 2000). "SmithKline to swallow Sensodyne: Aquafresh maker lines up Dollars 1.2bn bid for privately owned toothpaste company Block Drug". The Guardian (London). p. 29.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]