Magadon Pharmaceuticals/Introduction

Magadon was founded in 1946 as Magadon Limited by retired Army doctor Bryant Vandergrift. It was originally a medical research firm specialising in ways to counter biological warfare, but between 1952 and 1956 the company bought a number of other medical firms and diversified into the production of medicines. After publicly listing stock in 1955, it expanded internationally in 1956 with the acquisition of a British cancer treatment company.

Despite its early success, Magadon was nearly bankrupt in the late 50s by several disasters, including a viral outbreak at one research facility which killed more than 400 scientists. In 1959, it was taken over by Pentex, and in the following thirty years Magadon grew to become one of the three largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.