What is now the oldest and most experienced contract manufacturer of lyophilized products in the United States had humble beginnings.

In 1938, the company was founded by R. Templeton Smith. Our first major product was estrogen, a hormone extracted from the urine and blood of pregnant mares.

Our next major product was freeze-dried human blood plasma, which was used to save lives by preventing shock and replenishing blood volume. During the Second World War, we developed techniques allowing us to produce sterile lyophilized plasma for the U.S. armed forces. Ben Venue became the first company to receive the coveted Army-Navy "E" Award for effort.

From 1943 to 1945, Ben Venue operated a penicillin production plant as part of a massive effort to bring penicillin within the economic reach of the world's population.

Soon after, we provided the original development work and initial production of the antibiotic Bacitracin

In the 1950's and 60's Ben Venue evolved into a major contract developer and manufacturer of parenterals. In 1967, the National Cancer Institute awarded us the first of numerous development and manufacturing contracts for clinical dosages of anti-tumor agents, a relationship which continues to this day.

Today, more than 400 pharmaceutical products have been successfully produced by Ben Venue. Our customer list has grown to become a virtual who's who of the U.S. drug industry as well as many international firms.

In 1985, we created the first of a series of marketing joint ventures by joining Cetus to create Cetus Ben Venue Therapeutics to provide generic antitumor agents to the marketplace. In this venture, Ben Venue performed regulatory filings, provided development and manufacturing capabilities, while Cetus provided sales and marketing. Cetus later became part of Chiron Corporation.

Later, we entered into agreements with the VHA to supply pharmaceuticals under the VHA Plus label. The VHA comprises 20% of the U.S. hospital market.

Soon after, we agreed to supply Novopharm Canada with generic parenteral pharmaceuticals for the Canadian marketplace. Novopharm is one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of generic pharmaceutical products in Canada.

In 1994, we created Bedford Laboratories, a separate division, dedicated to the marketing of a select line of specialty injectables, some difficult to obtain from other sources.

In 1996, Ben Venue purchased Chiron Corporation's 50% of the Cetus Ben Venue Therapeutics joint venture. Today, the former venture's products continue to be manufactured by Ben Venue but are now marketed by the Bedford Laboratories division.

In December of 1997, Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation, the U.S. subsidiary of Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, purchased Ben Venue.