100 years of Biolectra: Birthday of an effervescent tablet

In 1925, Franz Gradinger, who founded the Hermes company in 1907, patented the Biolectra® brand, and within a few years, a blood and nerve energizing powder was on the market under this name. The company's current focus on minerals began in 1986, when it developed a direct granulation process to market maturity and launched the drug Biolectra®. Magnesium in two strengths as effervescent tablets was introduced to the German market.

»Biolectra is the core and the "The heart of the Hermes Group, and we are entirely focused on magnesium," said Jörg Wieczorek, Managing Director of Hermes Arzneimittel Holding, at the anniversary press conference. The brand is also his "heart project." Biolectra is as important to Hermes as the Golf is to VW or the iPhone is to Apple. The company, which was transformed into the Johannes Burges Family Foundation six years ago, has consciously decided to be pharmacy-exclusive. "We don't want to sell our brand cheaply."

Hermes is constantly working on further development and is intensively involved in the Sustainability , Wieczorek explained. "Five employees are dedicated solely to such issues."

The products are manufactured at Hermes Pharma in Wolfratshausen and Wolfsberg, Austria . The plant in Wolfratshausen, south of Munich, opened in 1994. 320 people work there, about half of whom work in production, explained Uwe Tschirschwitz, Production Manager at Hermes Pharma, during the plant tour. Only solid dosage forms, i.e., tablets, are produced here. During the tour of the production line, the pharmacist demonstrated special granulation techniques and vacuum granulators. The company not only produces for its own needs but also works as a contract manufacturer for many customers in Europe.

The Direct Sticks, introduced in 2003 and currently manufactured in Austria, have become a bestseller. The company is currently installing a machine to enable the sticks to be produced in Wolfratshausen in the future, according to the production manager.

Biolectra products are marketed as medicinal products and dietary supplements and are subject to strict quality controls. Pharmaceuticals are subject to GMP regulations, while food products are subject to the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) concept.