Our Story

We believe in healthcare as it should be – empowering people worldwide to live healthier at every stage of life. Because of our unwavering belief that better access leads to better health, we leverage our best-in-class manufacturing and scientific expertise and proven commercial capabilities to bring quality medicines to patients when and where they need them.

 

The Creation of Viatris

In November 2020, Viatris was formed through the combination of Mylan and Upjohn, with a mission of empowering people worldwide to live healthier at every stage of life.

Viatris’ name is rooted in Latin and embodies a vision of providing a path (“VIA”) to three (“TRIS”) critical goals: expanding access to medicines, leading by innovating to meet patient needs, and being a trusted partner for the healthcare community worldwide.

The Evolution of Mylan

For nearly 60 years, increasing access to high quality medicine and improving patient health was Mylan’s mission. Mylan was founded in 1961 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, to ensure access to affordable medicine in difficult-to-reach communities.

In the early years, the company then known as “Milan,” named after one of the company’s co-founders, Milan “Mike” Puskar, bought finished dose medicines and resold them from the trunk of a Pontiac Bonneville to rural pharmacies and physicians throughout the Appalachian region of the U.S. Later, manufacturing operations began in Morgantown, West Virginia.

As Mylan’s vision grew, so did the company. In 1972, Milan changed its name to Mylan Laboratories as a way to highlight its technical expertise and to make it easier for investors to find the company at the end of the fine-print stock listings in newspapers after the first shares of Mylan stock began trading under the ticker symbol MYLN.

Mylan’s steady growth through the early 2000s was achieved through a focus on enhancing operations and developing new medicines. Much of the decade saw Mylan continuing its evolution while growing its commitment to patients in countries large and small, and across multiple product lines and capabilities. During this time, Mylan became well known for its expertise in smoothly integrating acquisitions, including the 2015 purchase of Abbott’s branded specialty and generics lines in the world’s developed markets, Renaissance and Meda in 2016 and Apicore in 2017, all of which expanded Mylan’s portfolio and capabilities in manufacturing, R&D and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API).

Viatris is the culmination of Mylan’s strategic efforts to increase scale in all areas – geographic reach, R&D, manufacturing, API, combined product portfolio and global commercial footprint.

The Legacy of Upjohn

Born out of Pfizer’s Established Medicines division, Upjohn was created as a standalone business in 2018 within Pfizer. Its mission was to relieve the burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) with trusted, quality medicines for every patient, everywhere.

 

With a rapidly expanding global middle class across emerging markets, particularly in Asia, and an enhanced focus on quality and affordable healthcare by policymakers worldwide, there had never been a more pressing time to focus on addressing the rising public health impact of NCDs.

 

At the heart of everything Upjohn did were its patients, its people and the quality of its business. These were the cornerstones of the company’s efforts to build a healthier world for everyone.

Key to this success was the strength of Upjohn’s portfolio, which included complex generics and biosimilars, and harnessed the power of some of the world’s most recognized brands, including CELEBREX® (celecoxib capsules), DILANTIN® (extended phenytoin sodium capsules, USP), LIPITOR® (atorvastatin calcium), LYRICA® (pregabalin) and VIAGRA® (sildenafil citrate) – category-leading products across cardiovascular, pain, mental health and urology therapeutic areas.

Building a healthier world for everyone – and delivering better outcomes for patients – is Upjohn’s legacy. By marrying its global footprint and the resources of a world-class multinational with the mindset of a startup, the business was set to anticipate change and capture growth opportunities.