Guerbet: Death of Michel Guerbet, son of the founder and company director for over 30 years.

Death of Michel Guerbet, son of the founder and company director for over 30 years

 
Villepinte, 30 January 2024

The Group is deeply saddened to announce the death of Michel Guerbet, who passed away on January 23, 2024 at the age of 92. An historic figure in the Guerbet Group, Michel Guerbet was the son of André, who founded the laboratory in 1926, and the grandson of Marcel, who co-developed Lipiodol® in 1901.

When his father André died in 1964, Nicole Guerbet, Michel's sister and a pharmacist by training, temporarily took over the reins of the company at a time when such training was required to run a laboratory. Then the law changed and Michel Guerbet, a doctor and researcher, took over.

That was in 1965. At that time, Guerbet had 150 employees and generated only 33% of its sales from exports. It was under Michel's impetus and strategic vision that Guerbet developed its industrial network and international footprint, with the construction of plants in Aulnay (1968), Lanester (1981) and Rio (1991), the purchase and development of Simafex, starting in 1987, and the creation of subsidiaries in Europe, Asia and Brazil.

Twenty-five years later, in 1990, Guerbet had no fewer than 1,000 employees and sales of 700 million francs.

Michel Guerbet was also the man who imbued the Group with a strong R&D culture, leading to a number of successes and a series of major innovations in medical imaging, including Hexabrix®, the first low-osmolality ionic product (1979), and Dotarem®, the first macrocyclic gadolinium-based product (1989). He also gave a new lease of life to Lipiodol® in the early 1980s, extending its use to interventional imaging.

After 1998, Michel Guerbet kept a foot in the Group for a long time, whether on the Board of Directors, of which he remained Chairman until 2001, or through his presence at numerous events celebrating the laboratory. The people of Aulnay fondly remember his last visit to Aulnay for the site's fiftieth anniversary, in 2018.

The Group owes a great deal to Michel Guerbet, and will always bear the imprint of this man of exceptional ability, who maintained a straightforward attitude and a keen interest in the life of the company and its employees.

The Guerbet family also reiterates its attachment to the stability of the eponymous Group's shareholding structure, characterized by the pact between all heirs and family members. The family is fully committed to supporting the Group in its operational development and the achievement of its medium- and long-term strategic objectives.

About Guerbet

At Guerbet, we build lasting relationships so that we enable people to live better. That is our purpose. We are a leader in medical imaging worldwide, offering a comprehensive range of pharmaceutical products, medical devices, and digital and AI solutions for diagnostic and interventional imaging. A pioneer in contrast media for 95 years, with more than 2,600 employees worldwide, we continuously innovate and devote 10% of our sales to research and development in four centres in France, Israel, and the United States. Guerbet (GBT) is listed on Euronext Paris (segment B–mid caps) and generated €753 million in revenue in 2022.

Contacts :

Guerbet    
Jérôme Estampes, Chief Financial Officer +33.1.45.91.50.00 / jerome.estampes@guerbet.com
Claire Lauvernier, Communications Director +33.6.79.52.11.88 / claire.lauvernier@guerbet.com
Actifin      
Marianne Py, Financial Communications +33.1.80.48.25.31 / marianne.py@seitosei-actifin.fr
Jennifer Jullia, Press +33.1.56.88.11.19 / jennifer.jullia@seitosei-actifin.fr