It all started with a minor accident at the seaside. Arturo Licenziati injured his hand on a rock. Nothing serious, but enough to make him think: treating a wound in certain positions is awkward and ineffective. He recalled a trip to Japan, where he had seen a factory producing an innovative patch: soft, skin-friendly, adhesive, with an active ingredient spread on a special fabric. That’s when the idea struck.
In IBSA’s patent drawer, there was already a precious ingredient: diclofenac epolamine, a salt soluble in water and fats. The idea was simple and brilliant: combine that Japanese technology with a powerful active ingredient to create a patch capable of slowly releasing the drug directly onto the skin, where it was really needed.
Thus, Flector Tissugel was born, officially registered in 1993. But that was just the first step. Flector became a whole family of pain relief solutions: the spreadable gel (1991), sachet granules (1995), injections (2015), and capsules (2021). Each version had a precise target, a function designed to improve the patient’s experience.
And it didn’t stop there. In 2007, IBSA achieved another milestone: it became the first European pharmaceutical company to bring a topical anti-inflammatory to the United States. Flector became a symbol: of practical innovation, of the ability to listen to patients, of the intuition that turns a simple idea into a global success.