Chattem history

The two brothers began running the business as partners in 1906, just five years after the Chattanooga Medicine Company had grown to include a second branch office in San Francisco.

John A. Patten died in 1916 at middle age, and Doctor Grote recalled that he had observed him as a young man and remembered that Mr.

He said in his talk that in 1935, at the suggestion of one of the Pattens, he crossed Balm Ben-Gay with Vicks.

In 1938, Zeboim Carter Patten passed the modest operation on to his nephew, Lupton Patten, who at age 31 became the youngest president in the company's almost 60-year history.

Among the mid-century company history, Doctor Grote stated that after Lupton Patten died in 1958, Alex Guerry became president and the company really expanded, buying out several other firms.

Chattem/Chattanooga Medicine Co. in 1962

In 1966, the company changed its name from Chattanooga Medicine Co. to Chattem Drug & Chemical Company.

The following year, Chattem sold its stock in a public offering, which was the first time that the company’s stock had been openly available to outsiders. Therefore, Guerry called for a corporate name change in 1968, and the company became the Chattem Drug and Chemical Company.

A look at a copy of a speech on file at the Chattanooga Public Library and given by then-UTC chemistry professor and Chattem employee Doctor Irvin Grote in 1971 sheds much light into its early history.

Within a five-year time period, Chattem acquired Sun-In Hair Lightener, MUDD Facial Masque, and the Corn Silk cosmetics line. Therefore, in 1979 the company became Chattem, Inc., a designation that more aptly reflected its rapidly expanding scope of business.

Along with the addition of a liquid form of makeup to the Corn Silk product line, Chattem hoped to round out its cosmetics offerings with the new purchases. As a result, both product lines were sold to outside suitors by 1985.

The success of Chattem's consumer products division was further bolstered by the 1985 acquisition of Nullo Deodorant tablets and the 1986 acquisitions of Bullfrog waterproof sunblock and Ultraswim chlorine removal shampoo. For example, in 1988 Chattem added two new variations of its Sun-In Hair Lightener product to store shelves when it unveiled "Gentle Highlights" and "Natural Lemon" Sun-In.

The year 1989 saw Chattem achieve one of its largest acquisitions with the purchase of Flex-all 454 topical analgesic.

After guiding Chattem through some of its most defining years, Alex Guerry died in 1990 and left control of the company to his son, Zan Guerry.

In 1991 Chattem's specialty chemicals division enjoyed a 45 percent increase in sales, even though the United States' chemical process industries in general experienced decreases.

The success of its specialty chemicals division helped Chattem achieve its first $100 million sales year in history and prompted the company to expand itself even further by opening a 1.3 million-share secondary offering of its stock to the public in 1992.

Chattem's continued emphasis on consumer products expansion then prompted an even more notable 1994 event, as the company decided to put its specialty chemicals division up for sale.

The specialty chemicals division was purchased by the privately held Elcat Company of New Jersey for $25 million, and the sale was finalized by mid-1995.

By 1996, Chattem was producing and marketing name-brand products such as Pamprin, Premsyn PMS, Norwich Aspirin, Sun-In, Ultraswim Shampoo and Conditioner, Bullfrog Sunblock, Flex-all 454, Icy Hot, Benzodent, pHisoderm, MUDD Facial Masque, Corn Silk, and Gold Bond Medicated Powder.

Sales exceeded $200 million in 1998 after Chattem bought Ban Anti-Perspirant and Deodorant from Bristol Myers Squibb Company for $165 million, its biggest deal to date. It bought Sunsource International, maker of herbal supplements such as Garlique, in 1997.

In December 1998, Chattem became the largest topical analgesic manufacturer in the country through the addition of several brands, including Sportscreme, Aspercreme, and Capzasin, from Thompson Medical Company Inc.

Flessner, Dave, “Chattanooga, Tenn.-Based Company Sells Deodorant Subsidiary,” Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News, August 25, 2000.

In 2002, Chattem acquired Selsun Blue, a leading brand of dandruff shampoo, from Abbot Laboratories in 2002 for about $75 million.

A new European subsidiary was formed in Ireland in 2004, and, together with the company’s existing U.K. office, Chattem distributed Selsun, Mudd, and Sun-In, the latter sold only on the Continent.

The facility has been on a steady upward growth path since opening again in April of 2005, and is now an all-important fourth business unit for the company.

In October 2006, Chattem announced it would acquire five brands for $410 million as a result of the merger between Johnson & Johnson and the consumer healthcare business of Pfizer.

Chattem acquired five top brands from Johnson & Johnson in a $410 million deal that closed in January 2007.

On December 21, 2009, Paris-based (France) Sanofi, the world's fourth largest drugmaker, said it was acquiring Chattem in a $1.9 billion cash deal.

In other recent history, Chattem was purchased by the French multinational pharmaceutical company, Sanofi, in 2010.

For a number of years, Zan Guerry, the son of Alex Guerry, served as CEO. In 2014, he was named chairman.