Innovation and entrepreneurship in Catalan private laboratories: origins and rise of Grifols Lab (1880-1955)

Authors

  • Cristina Sans-Ponseti [1] Centre d'Història de la Ciència (CEHIC), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193, Barcelona, Spain. [2] Grifols S.A., Jesús i Maria 6, 08022, Barcelona, Spain. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4142-5924
  • Paloma Fernández-Pérez University of Barcelona

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1344/jesb2021.1.j085

Keywords:

Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Healthcare, Catalonia, Grifols

Abstract

Studying the evolution of private medical clinics is extremely useful in understanding the history of the Catalan healthcare system where, from the 19th century onwards, a Marshallian atmosphere of flows of knowledge, people and technology has resulted in close connections between the public and private practice of modern medicine. The history of the Grifols Laboratories, from 1880 to the 1950s, is a relevant case study in this context, as it highlights patterns that were repeated in other medical laboratories in Catalonia a century ago. But Grifols is also particularly interesting both because of its survival and evolution to this day, and for its curation of its own historical archive.

This article aims to understand how a small laboratory in the healthcare district of Barcelona built its scientific foundations on laboratory medicine during the early 20th century, and finally changed its business strategy because of the Spanish Civil War, becoming a family pharmaceutical company. The sources are documents from the Grifols archive and interviews with managers at the company. The findings highlight the importance of interdisciplinary analysis, suggesting that both scientific and business adaptations by successive generations are equally important in explaining the success of Grifols Laboratories. Science-based family firms that endure over time not only acquire specialised knowledge to compete in the market, but also knowledge about transferring entrepreneurship in the long term. In Grifols case, knowledge from younger generations was crucial to adapting their activity, first to a changing scientific paradigm and then to a precarious national market.

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Author Biography

Cristina Sans-Ponseti, [1] Centre d'Història de la Ciència (CEHIC), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193, Barcelona, Spain. [2] Grifols S.A., Jesús i Maria 6, 08022, Barcelona, Spain.

I am a third year Industrial PhD student in History of Science at the Centre for the History of Science (CEHIC-UAB), in collaboration with Grifols S.A. I received a BSc in Physics from the Faculty of Science of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), a MSc in Astrophysics, Particle Physics and Cosmology from the Faculty of Physics of Universitat de Barcelona (UB) and finally a MA in History of Science from both UAB and UB. My current investigation is about the rise of Laboratorios Grifols, from a modest practice in Barcelona to a major multinational pharmaceutical company.

References

Archives

Grífols Historical Archive

Celis, Lluís, Josep Antoni Grifols Roig, and Ricard Moragas. ca. 1915. Laboratorio de Investigaciones Biológicas. Barcelona: Instituto Central de Análisis Clínicos, Bacteriológicos y Químicos (Reference Grifols Historical Archive: MG0453).

Grifols Roig, Josep A. 1928a. Flebula aspiradora Grifols: aparato para extraer automáticamente sangre y otros fluidos del organismo humano y animal destinados al anàlisis. Barcelona: Departamento de Biología de la Sociedad General de Farmacia, SA (References Grifols historical Archive: MG0761, MG6495 and MG2054).

Grifols Roig, Josep A. 1933c. La vacunoterapia por ingesta en las afecciones colibacilares. Barcelona: Departamento de Biología de la Sociedad General de Farmacia, S. (Reference Grifols historical Archive: MG0427).

Laboratorios Grifols. 1944. Equipo para la determinación de los grupos sanguíneos. Barcelona: Hemobanco de Sangre y Plasma de Laboratorios Grifols, SA.

Laboratorios Grifols. 1951. El Banco de Sangre y Plasma de Laboratorios Grifols. Barcelona: Hemobanco de Sangre y Plasma de Laboratorios Grifols, SA.

Laboratorios Grifols. 1953. Memoria del Hemobanco. Barcelona: Laboratorios Grifols, S.A. (Reference Grifols historical Archive: MG6353).

Shareholders Meeting Minutes, from November 1940 to December 1964, Shareholders Meeting records, Grifols Historical Archive, Barcelona.

Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas

Grifols Roig, Josep A. 1916. Un aparato perfeccionado para la obtención de muestras de sangre, destinadas al anàlisis. Invention patent number 62983. Madrid: Oficina Española de Patentes.

Grifols Roig, Josep A. 1917. Resultados posibles en la fuerza de la reacción, según nuestro método. Trademark number 31936. Madrid, Espanya: Oficina Española de Patentes.

Grifols Roig, Josep A. 1929a. Ampollas previamente preparadas autoaspiradoras y autoinyectables. Invention patent number 111456. Madrid: Oficina Española de Patentes.

Reichspatentamt Patentschrift

Grifols Roig, Josep A. 1928b. Bluttransfusionsapparat. Invention patent number 569.648. Berlin: Reichspatentamt Patentschrift.

Brevet d’invention Délivré Sans Garantie du Gouvernement

Grifols Roig, Josep A. 1929b. Dispositif pour injections ou prélevements de sang. Invention patent number 671969. Paris: Brevet d’invention Délivré Sans Garantie du Gouvernement.

Patent Specification of his Majesty's Stationery Office

Grifols Roig, Josep A. 1929c. Needle Holder for Ampules. Invention patent number 308.597. London: Patent Specification of his Majesty's Stationery Office.

United States Patent Office

Grifols Roig, Josep A. 1933b. Blood transfusion apparatus. Invention patent number 1923846. Washington: United States Patent Office.

Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau Archive

Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. 1948. Libros mayores. Barcelona: Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau.

Arxiu Històric de Protocols Barcelona - Il·lustre Col·legi de Notaris de Catalunya

Faura Bordas, José. 1940. Protocolo número 1798. Barcelona: Archivo de Protocolos de Barcelona.

Interviews

Grifols Roura, Victor, interview by Paloma Fernández-Pérez, February 13, 2015, Sant Cugat.

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Published

2021-01-11

How to Cite

Sans-Ponseti, Cristina, and Paloma Fernández-Pérez. 2021. “Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Catalan Private Laboratories: Origins and Rise of Grifols Lab (1880-1955)”. Journal of Evolutionary Studies in Business 6 (1):114-55. https://doi.org/10.1344/jesb2021.1.j085.