Company history
From a Berlin pharmacy to DR. KADE
Our history began in 1886 with the acquisition of a pharmacy on Berlin’s Oranienplatz. What was originally built up with entrepreneurial and pioneering spirit is now an international pharmaceutical company with highly specialised healthcare solutions. From a Purveyor to the Imperial Court to a modern company specialising in women’s health and proctology, our company history is one of change, growth and responsibility.
1886
Dr Franz Lutze acquires the Oranien-Apotheke from Berlin pharmacist Dr Rudolph Kade. He retains the founder’s name, thereby laying the foundation stone for the company’s long history. Among other customers, the pharmacy supplies the on-board pharmacy of the imperial yacht “Hohenzollern”.
1922
The company makes medical history in 1922 with its haemorrhoid preparation Posterisan. Still a top seller outside Germany to this day, this preparation is based on an innovative bacterial culture suspension that has a local immunological effect – a milestone in product development at DR. KADE.
1949
Dr Marietta Lutze takes over at the helm of the company, as the third generation of management. A medical doctor who was later awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, she steers the pharmaceutical company’s expansion for many decades and steps up its activities around the world.
1982
A state-of-the-art pharmaceutical production facility is built in the Marienfelde district of Berlin, housing not only Production and Quality Control but also Marketing and Medicine.
2003
DR. KADE moves into pharmacy distribution with the established Posterisan and KadeFungin brands.
2013
Takeover of Takeda’s OTC product portfolio, including such established brands as Sanostol, Faktu lind and Riopan.
2018
Corporate Services moves into a newly expanded office space in the famous Ullsteinhaus building in Berlin’s Tempelhof district. The production at the company’s Berlin headquarters on Rigistraße is completely modernised and specialises in semi-solid forms: creams, ointments, gels, suppositories and ovules.
2025
The production location on Rigistraße is expanded to fully optimise the manufacture of semi-solid forms, thereby paving the way for further growth and helping to safeguard the location in the long term.
