Founded in 1967 by West Auckland chemist Graeme Douglas,[2] the company started out distributing prescription medicines, before manufacturing and later successfully researching and developing its own products for export.

As demand for the cough syrup grew, the company contracted manufacturing chemists to maintain enough supply.

Afterwards, the company began importing niche pharmaceuticals and packaging them at Douglas's chemist shop before distributing them to other pharmacists.

In the early 1970s, Douglas's chemist shop had over $2 million in revenue when he sold it to focus on the pharmaceutical business.

[3] In 2012, Sir Graeme's eldest son Jeff began handling much of the day-to-day running of the company.