Grifols unveils its new world headquarters in Greater Barcelona

Sant Cugat del Vallès (ACN).- The Catalan multinational company Grifols unveiled its new corporate headquarters this month. They are now located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, in the Can Sant Joan business area, well connected to Barcelona, as well as close to Barcelona’s Autonoumous University and scientific facilities such as the Alba synchrotron. The new facilities will host offices but also labs, where the company will work on stem cell research and Alzheimer’s. The new headquarters is located in three interconnected buildings, bought from Banc Sabadell in 2008. They will substitute the offices Grifols was occupying at the Mapfre Tower, in Barcelona’s Olympic Port. The group strengthens its presence in Catalonia, where it has an important production plant in Parets del Vallès, after having expanded abroad, in particular in the United States. Grífols purchased US-company Talecris last year and has consolidated its position as the world’s leader in blood-derived products.

Grifols’ good health is reflected by the activity the company has had this last number of years. Instead of being affected by the economic crisis, the Catalan pharmaceutical is actually stronger than some years ago. Its staff numbers have grown, as well as its economic activity. 75% of its staff of 11,000 employees is now concentrated in the United States. The group foresees investing between 4.5% and 5% of its sales revenues in investigation. After expanding in Mexico, Australia and Switerzland, the company landed on the US market by buying the giant Talecris last year. Currently, Grifols is distributing its products in 90 countries.

Víctor Grifols, the President of Grifols, talked about this new acquisition. At the headquarters’ unveiling ceremony, he said that purchasing Talecris is a new challenge as they “are making history”. With this operation, Grífols becomes the Spanish company with most investment within the United States, with more than 5 billion dollars. In addition, Víctor Grifols said that the company is “committed” with Catalonia and Spain, and has requested all the support from the administrations.

The Spanish Minister for Industry, Miguel Sebastián, was also present at the ceremony. He stated that “Grifols represents what we want Spanish industry to be”. Sebastián explained that Grifols represents the triple “I” model: “Industry, innovation and internationalisation”.

The new headquarters

Grifols new headquarters are three buildings interconnected to each other by an underground “street”, which will have a pharmacy and an Irish pub, as well as street furniture. The buildings want to offer the staff maximum comfort. Besides, offices and facilities such as shops, the new headquarters will have labs.

Grifols plans to diversify its business, which up until now has very much focused on hemoderived products. The company Gri-Cel, which researches stem cells, has been recuperated. Another innovative project is the fight against Alzheimer’s. Grifols has been working over the last year preparing a clinical test with their own drugs. It will be carried on in the US with 200 patients and in Spain with 100. If the results are as expected, the new drugs would slowdown the progression of the illness.

Can Sant Joan business area

Grifols new headquarters is in Can Sant Joan business area, in the municipality of Sant Cugat del Vallès, a middle and upper-middle class residential town next to Barcelona. Other companies such as Roche, Hewlett Packard or Banc Sabadell have important offices there or their headquarters. It is well connected to Barcelona city centre as well the rest of Barcelona’s Metropolitan Area. In addition, it is close to scientific equipment such as the Synchrotron ALBA and Barcelona Autonomous University’s campus.