Carlo Erba Biography
Carlo Erba, founded in 1853, represents the entrepreneurial turning point of the pharmacist from Vigevano, who decided to equip the laboratory of the Brera pharmacy in Milan with steam boilers, engines and new equipment to satisfy the numerous requests for pharmaceutical products coming from from the Italian and foreign markets. This marks the birth of the modern Italian pharmaceutical industry, which, according to the founder's intentions, had to free itself from foreign products, which actually happened. The development of the business was such that in 1861 a large area was acquired between via Solferino, via Marsala and via Moscova, which six years later would become the site of a large factory with over eighty workers and twenty employees. The company's flagship products are, in addition to the very famous magnesia, lactose, mannite, taurine capsules, gum arabic and natural extracts such as licorice and tamarind. These products, listed and described in the catalogues, are sold in various parts of the world, from Asia Minor to South America. Upon the founder's death in 1888, his brother Luigi ran the company, supported by Count Giuseppe Visconti di Modrone, appointed general attorney. The business continues to develop in line with the founder, so much so that a few years later it became necessary to build a new plant for the preparation of chemical-pharmaceutical products in Dergano, also in the Milan area, near the future Via Imbonati. In the same direction as his older brother, Luigi established the employee welfare fund in 1899. In 1946, the company became a joint-stock company and Edoardo Visconti di Modrone Erba, son of Giuseppe and Carla and brother of the film director Luchino, was appointed as managing director. With the end of the Second World War, Carlo Erba resumed developing research thanks to the construction of the new Research Institute in Milan. Production in Italy and abroad is mainly concentrated in the pharmaceutical, dietetic-food and livestock sectors. In Rodano, in the province of Milan, a new plant is opened for the preparation of chemical and chemical-pharmaceutical products previously made in Milan. In the 1950s and 1960s, research on two antibiotics stood out among pharmaceutical products: Chemycetin and Tetralysal, which were subjected to extensive animal testing. The activity continues in Ozzano Taro with the Diet-Erba laboratory which produces preparations ranging from milk flour to baby food in close collaboration with the "Research" division of the factory in via Imbonati in Milan. In Grazzano Visconti (PC) Sagra brand foods are produced, while research and development of breeding and veterinary specialties takes place through the participation of Erbazoo. Carlo Erba has always paid great attention and care to the communication of its products since the beginning of its business. Initially, the general catalog was the tool used to raise awareness of medicines and pharmaceutical preparations in Italy and around the world. Distributed in both Italian and foreign languages, it also included product images and drawings of laboratory equipment and instruments. With the development of graphic representation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the company employed leading illustrators, poster artists and painters.
