The story
Founded by Zeboim Cartter Patten in 1879, in Tennessee.1
Chattem was founded by Zeboim Cartter Patten as the Chattanooga Medicine Company in 1879. The company incorporated in 1909 and has remained in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to this day.
During World War II, the Chattanooga Medicine Company turned into a major supplier of K-Rations to the US Army, producing 34 million rations from 1942 to 1945, earning 5 "E" Awards for support of war efforts.
The firm adopted Chattem as its name and went public in 1969.
Chattem’s top and bottom lines grew significantly from 1989 through 1992. The source of this growth was the company’s strategy of purchasing under-marketed consumer brands and aggressively marketing those in its portfolio. In 1993, Chattem experienced a 14% decline in sales from the loss of Warner-Lambert’s Rolaids business. To fund a one-time special dividend in 1994, $75 million in high-yield bonds were issued.
In January 2013, Chattem acquired the full rights to Rolaids, which had seen its brand wounded under the ownership of Johnson & Johnson's McNeil Consumer Healthcare with a series of product recalls and quality control issues throughout 2010 that ended with most of the Rolaids line discontinued. In September, 2013 Chattem returned Rolaids to the market with new trade dress, though production of Rolaids is not expected to return to Chattanooga.
In March 2014, Chattem sold Dexatrim to NVE Pharmaceuticals.
Recent events
In October 2006, Chattem announced it would acquire five brands for $410 million as a result of the merger between Johnson & Johnson and the consumer healthcare business of Pfizer. These brands are:
ACT Anti-Cavity Mouthwash
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Unisom
Cortizone 10
Kaopectate
Balmex-Diaper Rash Ointment
Pending the US government’s approval of the merger of Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, Chattem will acquire five brands divested from the firms. Chattem has announced it expects to take possession of the brands around January 2007. These mature brands will provide $150 million in additional revenue to Chattem per year.
On December 21, 2009, Paris-based (France) Sanofi, the world's fourth largest drugmaker, said it was acquiring Chattem in a $1.9 billion cash deal. Sanofi said the acquisition would be completed by the first quarter of 2010.
In 2020, Sanofi Consumer Healthcare (CHC), based in Neuilly-sur-Seine near Paris, became Opella, with the ultimate goal of being sold by the French pharmaceutical group Sanofi. Sanofi Consumer Healthcare North America (Chattem, Inc.) then adopted the name Opella.
In 2024, Sanofi announced the sale of 50% of Opella (including Chattem) to the American private equity company CD&R. Sanofi retained 48.2% and Bpifrance (the French government's public investment bank) acquired 1.2%.
From Wikipedia’s article on Opella North America, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3