At its meeting on Monday, the board of directors elected board member Szilveszter E. Vizi as chairman of the board, and his deputy will be Ilona Pintérné Hardy, also a board member, for the period from March 1, 2024 until the company’s annual general meeting in 2027.
In recognition of his commitment to the company and his outstanding contribution to its achievements, Richter’s Board of Directors has conferred on Erik Bogsch the title of Honorary Chairman for life.
It was also announced that a new foundation will be established under the name of Bogsch Erik Foundation for Drug Discovery and an award will be created under the same name. Erik Bogsch was CEO of Richter Gedeon Plc for a quarter of a century, from 1992 to 2017.
Fact
Hungarian pharmacist Gedeon Richter filed his first application to purchase a pharmacy in downtown Budapest in 1901. It is regarded as the birthplace of the company and that of the Hungarian pharmaceutical industry as a whole. Richter’s most successful 20th-century original product, Cavinton, which stimulates cerebral circulation, was put on the market in 1977. Cavinton was the product of more than twenty years of research and development. Its cerebral vasodilatory effect has been clearly demonstrated by clinicians. The preparation proved to be both a major achievement in innovation and a huge financial success. Erik Bogsch, the new CEO appointed on 1 November 1992, wanted to rehabilitate Richter, then heavily indebted, without state aid, on his own. The new strategy demanded the enhancement of traditional innovation, more economical operations, and the increase of efficiency in general. This was conditional on the successful integration into the market economy, which required a fundamental change of approach, as well as the restructuring of the company. The basic tenets were export orientation, while maintaining and increasing its position in the domestic market, high quality in terms of both APIs and finished dosage products, and the importance of proprietary research and development. According to the new strategy, Richter must be a marketing-oriented organization based on strong research and development activities in the long run. In 1994, Richter was the first pharmaceutical company in the Central and Eastern European region to list its shares on the stock market. The company’s registered ordinary shares were listed on the Budapest Stock Exchange on 9 November 1994 and quickly became one of the blue chips. The 1994, 1995 and 1997 privatization programs led to a gradual reduction in the Hungarian State’s stake in the company. By the end of the privatization process, the Company’s share capital had increased threefold. 
