(Boursier.com) — The Group Guerbet announces the death of Michel Guerbet, which occurred on January 23 at the age of 92.
Historical figure of the group, Michel Guerbet was the son of André, who founded the laboratory in 1926, and the grandson of Marcel, who co-developed Lipiodol in 1901. When his father André died in 1964, Nicole Guerbet , Michel’s sister and a pharmacist by training, had temporarily taken the reins of the company at a time when this training was required to run a laboratory. Then the law changed and Michel Guerbet, doctor and researcher, took over in 1965.
At that time, Guerbet had 150 employees and achieved only 33% of its turnover from exports. Under the leadership of Michel and thanks to his strategic vision, Guerbet developed its industrial network and its international footprint, with the construction of factories in Aulnay (1968), Lanester (1981) and Rio (1991), the takeover and the development of Simafex, from 1987, but also the creation of subsidiaries in Europe, Asia and Brazil.
Twenty-five years later, in 1990, Guerbet had no fewer than 1,000 employees and had a turnover of 700 million francs.
Michel Guerbet also imprinted a strong R&D culture within the Group, which resulted in several successes and a series of major innovations in medical imaging including Hexabrix, the first low-osmolality ionic product (1979) and Dotarem, the first macrocyclic product to gadolinium base (1989). He also gave Lipiodol a second lease of life in the early 1980s, by extending its use in interventional imaging.
After 1998, Michel Guerbet kept a foothold in the Group for a long time, whether on the board of directors, of which he remained Chairman until 2001, or through his presence at numerous events celebrating the laboratory. The people of Aulnay particularly remember with emotion his last visit to Aulnay for the fiftieth anniversary of the site, in 2018.
“The Group owes a huge debt to Michel Guerbet and will forever keep the imprint of this man with exceptional abilities but maintaining an attitude full of simplicity, taking a close interest in the life of the company and its employees,” comments management. .
The Guerbet family also recalls its attachment to the stability of the shareholding of the eponymous Group, characterized by the pact bringing together all the heirs and members of the family. The latter fully supports the Group in its operational developments and the achievement of its medium and long-term strategic objectives.