Over 102,000 employees in 119 countries, 80 plants in 37 countries from which approximately 4 billion packs are produced every year, 1,400 products which in 2006 brought in a turnover of 34.6 billion euros, and a world market share of 6, 1 percent. These figures are enough to place GlaxoSmithKline in second place in the world among pharmaceutical groups. The English multinational, whose scientific tradition is testified by the presence from 1936 to 1988 of five Nobel Prize winners for medicine and physiology, among its researchers, today is the result of various experiences that have met: in 1995 the merger with Wellcome and in December 2000 with SmithKline Beecham. Its Research and Development activities, which account for 14.9 percent of its turnover, include 158 projects, more than 2,600 clinical studies and an investment of 5,100 million euros. A network of 15,000 researchers works in the Research Centers of Excellence for the Discovery of New Drugs (CEDD) located in various countries including Belgium, China, Croatia, France, Japan, Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain and the United States. The company is present, with its own drugs, in therapeutic areas ranging from the respiratory to the central nervous system, from antibiotic therapy to urology, from cardiovascular to diabetology, without forgetting antivirals and dermatologicals. It plays an important role in disease prevention, with the production and marketing of vaccines covering the majority of preventable infections. In the world it ranks first in over-the-counter products, oral hygiene products and nutritional drinks. In 2006, commitments to projects in favor of health and charitable activities amounted to 444 million euros, equal to 3.9 per cent of pre-tax profits. Il Giornale of 12/22/2007, article by Carlo Bassi ed. national p. 37
