When Kern died, the company changed its name to Chemische Fabrik vormals Sandoz in 1895 and began producing pharmaceuticals for the first time the same year.

[8][9] In 1918, Arthur Stoll isolated ergotamine from ergot; the substance was eventually used to treat migraine and headaches and was introduced under the trade name Gynergen in 1921.

[13] It was marketed as a treatment for a wide variety of mental ailments, ranging from alcoholism to sexual deviancy.

Sandoz suggested in its marketing literature that psychiatrists take LSD themselves,[14] to gain a better subjective understanding of the schizophrenic experience, and many did exactly that and so did other scientific researchers.

The drug became a cultural novelty of the 1960s after psychologist Timothy Leary at Harvard University began to promote its use for recreational and spiritual experiences among the general public.

[18] In 1963, Sandoz acquired Biochemie GmbH, which was producing and supplying scarce, urgently needed acid-resistant penicillin.

Sandoz's Swiss administrative headquarters are in Rotkreuz ZG in the municipality of Risch in the canton of Zug.

[36] In March 2019, it was announced that CEO Richard Francis had resigned for personal reasons and that Francesco Balestrieri, Sandoz's European head, had taken over management ad interim.

[39] As part of the spin-off, Sandoz announced in June 2023 it would move its headquarters from Holzkirchen, Germany to Basel, Switzerland.

[45] In January 2024, Sandoz announced it would acquire biosimilar drug for vision Cimerli For $170 million from Coherus BioSciences.

[50][51] On November 1, 1986, a major fire broke out in a warehouse containing 1,350 tonnes (2,980,000 lb) of chemicals in what was then Sandoz in Schweizerhalle.

The thick smoke, the stench and the unknown composition of the combustion gases caused the authorities in the neighboring communities to alert the population early in the morning with a general siren alarm and a curfew of several hours was imposed.

However, the toxins found their way into the Rhine via the extinguishing water, where they caused a large number of fish to die off.

[55] To this day, the landfill left after the fire continues to pollute the groundwater in Muttenz and is actively monitored by Novartis, as the legal successor to Sandoz, and the environmental authorities of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft.