How it started
History
In January 2004, Abbott announced it was spinning off its hospital products division.
Hospira's name was picked by employee vote. The name is derived from the words "hospital," "spirit," "inspire," and spero, a Latin word meaning "hope." Hospira became an independent company on May 3, 2004, with 14,000 employees, 14 manufacturing sites and an estimated $2.5 billion in annual sales.
In 2007, Hospira purchased Mayne Pharma Ltd., an Australian-based specialty injectable pharmaceuticals company, for $2.1 billion.
In 2009, Hospira acquired the biotechnology business from Pliva-Croatia, the generic injectable pharmaceuticals business of Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a leading Indian pharmaceuticals company, for approximately $400 million, and TheraDoc, a clinical informatics company that develops hospital surveillance systems, in 2009. In 2010, Hospira acquired Javelin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., maker of post-operative pain management drug Dyloject, for approximately $145 million.
In 2011, Hospira's board chose Mike Ball, formerly president of Allergan, as Hospira's new CEO. Ball became CEO in March 2011. Hospira named John Staley its non-executive chairman with the retirement of former executive chairman Christopher Begley in January 2012. Begley had announced his retirement as Hospira's chief executive in August 2010, but had remained as executive chairman.
From Wikipedia’s article on Hospira, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3