From our roots as Milan’s first compounding pharmacy, today we are an international company that straddles both primary care and biopharma. Our hunger for progress and passion for science enables us to push our R&D into new and unexpected areas. Our substantial and diverse portfolio of brands has grown over the years, which started with our flagship product, Guaiacalcium, a cough medication first launched in 1940.
Gian Antonio Dompé is a pharmaceutical chemistry expert. His son, Piedmontese Onorato Dompé, chooses to follow in his father’s footsteps and studies Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Pharmacy at the Royal University in Turin. Soon after graduation, he establishes the Dompé-Adami pharmaceutical production laboratory Dompé-Adami in Milan.
The success of the Dompé-Adami laboratory enables Onorato DompéTo acquire one of the oldest pharmacies in Milan, the Farmacia Centrale, in Piazza della Scala, and his father helps him run the business. Over the following years he expands, establishing pharmacies in Palermo, Milan, and Ponte Chiasso (Switzerland).
A forward thinker from the very beginning, he produces drugs according to the innovative British school.
He also moves his fast-growing production lab to another area of Milan, which is conveniently close to the city’s main hospital. Dompé became the first in Italy to introduce innovative methodologies, creating new drugs such as "Ferro Indoloro". At the time it was the only remedy for Anemia.
Onorato Dompé sells his four pharmacies to focus on production and moves the laboratory to a larger facility.
Following a degree in chemistry and pharmacy at the University of Pavia, he sets up his own production lab in Milan.
Onorato develops a cough medication called Creosotina, which is then perfected by Franco and evolves into Guaiacalcium, Dompé’s flagship product. This is the start of Dompé farmaceutici, with many other household drugs soon to follow, including Artrosil and Tribenzoica.
A formidable challenge emerges with the outbreak of World War II, threatening the survival of both Onorato’s and Franco’s pharmaceutical ventures. Onorato’s production facility suffers the most: first, it is heavily damaged during a bombing raid by the British Royal Air Force; then, the following year, the German army confiscates a significant portion of its materials, further crippling operations.
Following the war Franco Dompé reconstructs his father’s building and moves his business there. This building is still Dompé farmaceutici’s headquarters today.
The newly renovated Dompé farmaceutici’s headquarters is complete. An investment in new production machinery enables medicines to be produced in vials. This unleashes a new era of productivity. Dompé farmaceutici can now produce drugs on an industrial scale, and the company expands quickly. Patents are non-existent, and while other companies are copying drugs, Dompé farmaceutici instead focuses its investments on pioneering research and innovation. Two new drugs are developed and launched during this time including Cardioritmon and Bioritmon.
With the VII Winter Olympic Games taking place in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Dompé farmaceutici sponsors the event providing athletes with necessary medication.
Franco Dompé launches his tenth product: pi-Acca 4, an antispasmodic to treat abdominal pain.
The year marks Dompé farmaceutici’s first appearance on the big screen: in the Academy Award–winning film Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Sophia Loren tries to give one of her children Dompé’s cough syrup, Guaiacalcium.
Franco’s son, Sergio Dompé, joins the company and defines a bold new business strategy: increase the company’s investment in research, focus on innovation, and build partnerships with key international players.
Aware of the crucial role of biotechnology in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as Italy’s gaps in the sector, Sergio Dompé embarks on a new path for the company’s future. Thus, Dompé Biotech was founded with the goal of making revolutionary biotechnological products available.
Dompé opens its production hub at L’Aquila (160.000 m2), initially focusing on the production of drugs for primary care. From 1993 to 2018, the hub receives investment of over € 200 million.
Set up of the Biotech GMP approved plant in L'Aquila. This state-of-the-art structure marks a strategic milestone in strengthening the company’s biotechnological production capabilities, aimed at developing innovative therapies for rare and complex diseases. Equipped with cutting-edge technologies and designed to meet the highest quality standards, the facility underscores Dompé’s commitment to research and the advancement of therapeutic solutions. The initiative further consolidates L’Aquila’s role as an industrial and scientific hub of excellence for the group.
Our team designs Reparixin, an investigational molecule that aims to reduce the body’s inflammatory response as a result of several diseases and conditions. This novel molecule greatly impacts the scientific community, initiating a wide range of international research.
Biogen Idec and Dompé farmaceutici form Biogen Dompé, a joint venture with the mission to identify new biotechnological solutions for treating multiple sclerosis.
Amgen and Dompé farmaceutici form Amgen Dompé, a joint venture focusing on the development of new drugs for oncology and nephrology.
The Q-rare department was created with the goal of offering innovative solutions for the treatment of rare diseases with high unmet medical needs.
Dompé acquires the rights to develop, produce and market a therapeutic application for Nerve Growth Factor protein (NGF), a discovery made by Rita Levi-Montalcini and Stanley Cohen for which they won the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. With research underway into this biotech drug, Dompé expands its research and biotech production facilities at the L’Aquila hub. During this time, Dompé also acquires more than 30% of Philogen, a biotech company focusing on the development of oncological drugs. Dompé also launches a new primary care drug, Okitask, for headache and pain relief, quickly establishing its place in medicine cabinets across homes throughout Italy.
Following R&D activities into rhNGF, the first international clinical trial of this biotech drug kicks off. More than 37 European research centers are involved in the trial. The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP) designates “orphan drug” to rhNGF.
Dompé acquires the pharma division of the pharmaceutical company Gruppo Bracco.
Dompé launches its Primary unit, which develops and distributes ethical and OTC drugs, dietary supplements, medical devices and cosmetics. EMA’s Committee for Human Medicinal Products (CHMP) and the European Commission authorize the marketing of Cenegermin.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorizes the marketing of rhNGF.
The scope of this therapeutic solution is proven by FDA’s designation as “Breakthrough Therapy”. In the meantime, Dompé continues to develop new drugs for primary care, including Euclorina, a disinfectant solution.
Inspired by the vision of Sergio Dompé, the Dompé Foundation was established to expand access to higher education and cultivate excellence in STEM disciplines — Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics — with a dedicated focus on life sciences. Through scholarships and strategic partnerships with top-tier universities in Italy and the United States, the Foundation supports education and research as vital engines of scientific progress. Alongside these efforts, it promotes the Dompé Historical Archive, created to preserve and highlight the legacy of a company whose journey has always been driven by innovation.
The National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) authorizes the marketing of rhNGF in China. Meanwhile, Exscalate become the centerpiece of a European project to defeat COVID-19, Exscalate4CoV (E4C).
Inauguration in Naples of Exscalate's innovative drug discovery laboratory. In the same year Dompé introduces Bioritmon, a novel dietary supplement to support the immune system and help counter oxidative stress.
In 2022, Dompé Farmaceutici signed the first-ever technology transfer agreement with Cineca to access Leonardo, the fourth most powerful supercomputer in the world, hosted at the Tecnopolo di Bologna. This milestone marked Dompé as the first private user of the system, positioning the company at the forefront of computational life sciences in Europe.
On June 11 and 12, the international conference From the Eye to the Brain, organized by Nature Conferences and sponsored by Dompé Farmaceutici, was held in Rome. The event brought together over 100 world-renowned scientists and featured Thomas C. Südhof, winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, as keynote speaker. The debate focused on the future of therapeutic applications in eye and brain research of neurotrophins, proteins discovered in the 1950s by Italian Nobel Prize winner Rita Levi-Montalcini and Stanley Cohen, with the identification of nerve growth factor (NGF). During the meeting, researchers analyzed the latest advances in research, including the FDA's first approval in 2018 of an NGF-based treatment for a rare corneal disease. The discussion focused on the new clinical potential of neurotrophins in ophthalmology and neurology, such as the treatment of glaucoma, optic nerve injuries, and various central nervous system disorders, including Parkinson's disease, dementia, and depression.
Dompé has been chosen by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as the only Italian company — and the sole representative in the ophthalmology field — to participate in the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher Program (CNPV). Dompé’s research program targeting NAION (Non-Arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy) was selected for this innovative initiative, designed to accelerate the approval of breakthrough therapies addressing urgent and unmet medical needs. NAION is a rare and sudden condition affecting the optic nerve, often resulting in irreversible vision loss.
