Solvay Pharmaceuticals was set up as a separate health sector of the Solvay Group in the 1970's and gained a firm foothold in this sector by acquiring several pharmaceutical companies with their own innovative Research & Development activities. At first Kali-Chemie (now Solvay Pharmaceuticals GmbH, Germany) was acquired, followed by Latema and Sarbach (later on merged to Solvay Pharma, France), Duphar (presently Solvay Pharmaceuticals B.V., The Netherlands) and Reid-Rowell (presently Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc., USA). The acquisition of Fournier Pharma in France in 2005 was the largest transaction ever for Solvay Pharmaceuticals or even for the Solvay Group. In 2008, Solvay Pharmaceuticals took over the Belgium-based biotech company Innogenetics as part of its long-term growth strategy and to help accelerate its therapeutic pipeline through the implementation of biomarker, diagnostics and eventually companion diagnostics technologies.