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| Former type | Public |
|---|---|
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | Guinness |
| Founded | 1877 |
| Defunct | 1986 |
| Industry | Drinks |
| Products | Scottish whisky |
The Distillers Company Limited was a leading British drinks and pharmaceutical company which at one time was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
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The Company was formed in 1877 by a combination of six Scotch whisky distilleries: Macfarlane & Co., John Bald & Co. John Haig & Co, MacNab Bros & Co, Robert Mowbray and Stewart & Co. This company was born out of a trade association called the Scotch Distillers’ Association formed in 1865.
It combined with John Walker & Son and Buchanan-Dewar in 1925.
It was acquired by Guinness in 1986,[1] forming United Distillers, and the majority of its assets are now part of Diageo.
The following is a list of the subsidiaries of the Distillers Company as of 22 July 1980:
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At one time, Distillers' subsidiary Distillers Biochemicals was involved in the pharmaceutical industry. Most notably, Distillers was responsible for the manufacture of the drug Thalidomide in the United Kingdom[2].
Distillers Company (Biochemicals) Limited, or DCBL, manufactured penicillin in Speke, Liverpool, beginning in 1942. The firm was invited by the British Ministry of Supply to be the agent of the British government. Following World War II, DCBL purchased the facility for approximately four million dollars. Prior to manufacturing and marketing Thalidomide, DCBL was never very successful, despite producing the first oral penicillin.
In July 1957 DCBL signed a sixteen year contract with Grunenthal to market Thalidomide, rather than the five year agreement it desired. DCBL ordered 6,000 tablets for clinical trial and 500 grammes of pure substance for animal experiments and formulation. Thalidomide was marketed in England under the name Distaval, beginning on April 14, 1958. Advertisements emphasized the drug's complete safety, using phrases such as non-toxic and no known toxicity. Later Thalidomide was marketed under the names Asmaval, Tensival, Valgis, and Valgraine.[3]
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  | Historic Agreement Secures Financial Future for Thalidomide Survivors - Press releases 2005 |
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