Galderma S.A. is a Swiss pharmaceutical company specializing in dermatological treatments and skin care products. Formerly a subsidiary of L'Oréal and Nestlé, it has been held by a consortium of private institutional investors since 2019. Galderma was formed in 1981 as a joint venture between Nestlé and L'Oréal, then it became a subsidiary of Nestlé. Since 2019, it belongs to an investment fund. The company, headed by president and CEO Flemming Ørnskov (ex-Shire), has 33 sites in 100 countries with a worldwide network of distributors and employs more than 4,600 people. The headquarters is based in Zug, Switzerland. In 2021, the slogan of Galderma is "Advancing dermatology for every skin story". History The origins of Galderma date back to 1961 and the founding of the Owen dermatology company in Dallas, Texas, USA by M. Owen. In 1979, Professor Hans Schaefer founded the International Center for Dermatological Research (CIRD) in Sophia Antipolis, with the support of the CEO of L'Oréal, François Dalle, who wanted to diversify his cosmetic research into the drug sector. At the same time, Nestlé, which also had ambitions in dermatology bought the Owen laboratory. L'Oréal and Nestlé joined forces to create Galderma in 1981 (CIRD became Galderma R&D). It was a joint venture between the two companies. In 2007, the Galderma Global Corporate Campaign won the Medical Marketing Association's International Award of Excellence. In 2010, sales reached 1.2 billion euros, an increase of 16.1% over 2009. Galderma expanded by specializing in the research, development and commercialization of products for dermatology (skin care) patients. It reached a significant size, with 38 subsidiaries present in 100 countries in the 2010s. It diversified into aesthetic medicine products with the botulinum toxin Azzalure, a field in which it strengthened in 2010 with the acquisition of the Swedish medical-device company Q-Med. In 2014, Nestlé bought back all the shares from L'Oréal, thus creating a new unit of Nestlé group called Nestle Skin Health. The transaction had a value of €3.1 billion (US$4.23 billion) and was paid for by Nestlé with 21.2 million L'Oréal shares. L'Oréal paid €3.4 billion (US$4.63 billion) for the remaining 27.3 million shares. In 2019, Nestlé sold Galderma for $10.2 billion to a consortium comprising the EQT VIII fund, Luxinva (a wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority), PSP Investments and other institutional investors. Since then, it has been the largest independent dermatology company in the world. In