URGO Group
URGO Group is specialized in Advanced Wound Care (Urgo Medical division) and Consumer Healthcare (Consumer Healthcare division). Its startup UrgoTech designs tomorrow`s health solutions. A wind of innovation is blowing from the healthcare sector, in particular in the medical technology industry. In non-invasive medical techniques, involving the development of ambulatory medicine, and telemedicine applications, or the generalisation of digitisation, the innovations are very much also in how the treatment is organised and not only merely in the product. At URGO Group, our mission is to bring innovative healthcare solutions to patients, and we have made this combination an essential lever in our development strategy.
Company details
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- Business Type:
- Manufacturer
- Industry Type:
- Medical Equipment
- Market Focus:
- Globally (various continents)
About Us
Innovation is becoming medical, economic, and also organisational
A wind of innovation is blowing from the healthcare sector, in particular in the medical technology industry.
In non-invasive medical techniques, involving the development of ambulatory medicine, and telemedicine applications, or the generalisation of digitisation, the innovations are very much also in how the treatment is organised and not only merely in the product.
At URGO Group, our mission is to bring innovative healthcare solutions to patients, and we have made this combination an essential lever in our development strategy.
For several years now, we have been rolling out our innovations to serve:
- patients, so that they can received the best treatment;
- healthcare professionals, so that they can have access to the best technologies for giving the treatment; and
- the sustainability of our healthcare model. Healthcare has a cost, and efficiency is essential in order to make it sustainable.
Innovating in how the care & treatment pathway is organised: a priority for URGO Group
We are convinced of the key role that e-health and training of healthcare professionals can play in treating and caring for patients suffering from wounds. That is why we have chosen to invest massively in developing these new technologies for the last 2 years:
Digital solutions for optimising the care & treatment pathway
With URGO Advanced Solutions for Wound Management, we are developing two digital tools, UrgoExpert and EUREKA, which make it possible to optimise the care & treatment pathway of the patient through:
- Assistance with diagnosis
- Putting in place customised treatment & care protocols
- Monitoring the wound with alerts if the healing trajectory is poor
- A database that enriches the protocols
With these two new technologies, we have an impact on wound-healing time, bed turnover, waiting room time, nursing times, and costs of consumables. They have already been tested successfully in Spain and in France, and our ambition is to continue to roll out these solutions in our subsidiaries, in liaison with the healthcare professionals and the health authorities.
Medical training for improving care and treatment for patients
We also put in place numerous awareness-heightening and training actions every year with medical and nursing staff and with opinion leaders, the sole aim of which is to improve the quality of care and treatment of the patients:
By way of example, e-learning training has been put in place for doctors and nursing staff on specific pathologies such as diabetic ulcer; and medico-economic studies have been put in place, in particular on pressure ulcers.
Innovative connected healthcare solutions for continuity in home treatment and care
With its internal startup UrgoTech, URGO Group has the ambition to enable patients to act upon their health. We develop innovative connected devices relying on biofeedback enabling patients to exercises by themselves or with the help of a healthcare professional, without needing to physically be at a medical consultation.”
URGO at a Glance
The Group’s engagement has always been to “Invent & Care”.
URGO Group is a French leading international healthcare group, specialized in advanced wound care and self-care.
Created in 1880, family-owned, URGO Group is engaged on a day-to-day basis with patients, health care professionals and the general public.
- With its Urgo Medical division, it develops innovative wound dressings to address an increased need worldwide for the care of chronic wounds.
- With its Urgo Consumer Healthcare division, it gives access to responsible healthcare solutions in the areas of first aid, nutritional supplements, sexual hygiene, cold and allergies.
- With its Start-up UrgoTech, it prepares the future and offers patients the benefits of connected health.
Our growth strategy is based on five levers:
- Innovation: by investing in Research & Development and implementing “double innovation”. When we develop a product, we also develop the industrial equipment to manufacture it.
To find out more - Industry: To serve our clients, we deployed an investment plan of 60 M for the next four years. Industry is the Group’ strategic weapon.
To find out more - Well-known brands, leaders on their markets
To find out more - An international deployment with a local presence: we have a two-fold strategy: consolidate our positions and set up subsidiaries in new territories, in particular in emerging markets. In 10 years, URGO Group has expanded from 10 to 22 subsidiaries around the world.
To find out more - Our employees: we invest thoroughly in integration and training programs. We offer many opportunities and tailor-made career paths (graduate programs to strengthen one’s expertise, Urgo Leadership Program, Urgo Consulting, Urgo University…)
To find out more
Our History
1880, Dijon, France. A small pharmacy is born. About 140 years later, URGO Group spreads its solutions in advanced wound care and consumer healthcare in more than 60 countries, with the help of its 3300 collaborators.
While URGO Group has grown since then, it has kept its entrepreneurial spirit, its boldness and agility, that make him innovate in all areas to design tomorrow's health solutions.
Eugène Fournier et Pierre Bon found a small pharmacy. With the years, it grows with the opening of offices, stores, production workshops, a laboratory and a factory.
Jean Le Lous, a 29-year old pharmacist takes over the company.
Jean Le Lous creates the brand URGO with the objective of making dressings avaiblable to individuals and pharmacies. The ready-to-use bandage is invented and speeds up the success and fame of the brand!
Hervé Le Lous, Jean Le Lous' son, founds the Juva Santé Laboratories and the Juvamine brand, which is well-known in France thanks to the first advertising and pioneering TV campaign of 3 successive spots.
Juvamine is one of the first brands to market food supplements and vitamins into super- and hypermarkets.
Purchasing of Mercurochrome, the first aid brand in super and hypermarkets.
Emblematic brand well-known in France for its small red bottle, Mercurochrome has become a reference in health and well-being since its creation in 1917.
Since then, Mercurochrome has developed its portfolio with plasters, bandages, compresses, tapes, accessories ; but its expertise also covers the health and beauty sector: podiatry, childcare, muscles and join pain, oral and dental hygiene, winter ailments and essential oils.
URGO Group acquires the French brand SUPER DIET, a pioneer brand committed to develop organic and natural food supplements.
Marie Rose is the anti-parasite expert in hypermarkets and supermarkets.
Since 1934, Marie Rose ensures the well-being of the whole family with its range of anti-mosquito and anti-lice products.
The sexual well-being brand of Juva Santé Laboratories joins the healthcare shelves in hypermarkets and supermarkets with a large scope of products: classic, technical and playful condoms, lubricants and massage gels
The first medical dressing of the Group is launched and gives birth to a new division, Urgo Medical, specialized in the treatment of severe chronic and acute wounds.
Startup when it launched, URGO Group's medical care division is now the 2nd largest player on the wound-healing European market and has developed customised treatment & care protocols adapted to each wound.
URGO Consulting is our own internal consulting firm and enables talented young graduates to start rapidly their career and develop their skills through a large scope of internal missions.
Gathering medical and consumer healthcare activities, Vivasanté Group is created
URGO Group purchases three brands:
Herbesan, a leading brand in the Natural Health and Wellness industry, with products available from pharmacies and health and beauty retailers
OM3, emblematic actor specialized in omega-3s,
Alvityl, a brand on the dietary supplements market with complete formulas and adapted formats to fulfill the health needs of young and old
The Ricqlès brand, the peppermint essential oil expert, joins URGO Group's portfolio
URGO Group purchases BELLOC, one of the French leading pharmaceutical brands on the digestion segment.
URGO Group is launching its own corporate academy. Its particularity? The Group's top managers are the lecturers, allowing them to pass on their experience and methods to the group’s executives. They can share their good practices and working methods while fostering exchange between companies.
Since 2009, more than 600 employees have been trained to one or more existing courses: Finance, Decision Analysis, Management & Leadership, Negotiation, Project Management...
URGO Group purchases the company LM Farma, one of the leaders on the Brazilian wound healing market, starting the Group's development in Latin America.
Since then, URGO Group has considerably reinforced its presence in the region, in particular in Colombia, in Chile and in Mexico.
A new entity is founded to gather 6 brands, offering natural solutions: Super Diet, Ricqlès, Oligocéan, Herbesan, Belloc and OM3
The purchasing of the polish company Bioprofil, specialized in the distribution of dermo-cosmectics products, starts the beginning of a great adventure in Central and Eastern Europe, where URGO Group will establish a regional direction a few years leater.
In 2013, URGO Group purchases a portfolio of well-known polish brands: Polfa Lodz (vitamins, minerals and food supplements), Alsacin and Alugastrin
Recognized expert on the Italian food supplement market and based in Bologna, Agave has developed a wide and innovative range of products
Vivasanté changes its name and becomes URGO Group !
Founded to imagine and develop breakthrough innovations in healthcare, UrgoTech, URGO Group's startup, begins our digital chapter
URGO Group enters the hearing aids market with the acquisition of SONALTO, a French startup specialized in listening devices available in pharmacies.
UrgoTouch, a portable laser designed for post-operative scars is launched by URGO Group's medical division
URGO Group establishes a strategic partnership with the family-owned Indian company Eucare, one of the most recognized local players in wound healing.
The same year, the Group purchases GERCO, a company founded in 1950, based in Cartagena in Colombia, with a staff of 90 people.
GERCO offers consumer healthcare solutions that are well known by local consumers. The company has a production and distribution centre in Cartagena.
The four flagship ranges and products leaders on their market developed by GERCO are:
- Anti-rash and anti-irritation creams
- Pain-killing creams for athletes
- Anti-lice treatments
- Physiological serums
The 'URGO Mentorship Program' is a tailor-made support program for startups in medical technology
URGO and US Texas-based company SteadMed merge their North American medical activities, with Urgo Medical taking a majority stake in this strategic partnership, whose activities focus on acute and chronic wounds.
Urgo Medical North America will operate in the USA and Canada to become a global leading player in the world’s largest advanced wound care market of North America. The perfect fit between the range of products of both companies enable the new entity to offer best in class treatments to treat acute and chronic wounds.
A new generation at the head of URGO Group !
Hervé Le Lous, the company’s founder, has built URGO Group around strong family values. He has worked with his three sons for more than 10 years to build a pioneering company at the cutting-edge of medical technologies. In June, a new organization of URGO Group's Executive Direction was announced: an alternating family chairmanship. Hervé Le Lous’ sons, Briac, Tristan and Guirec Le Lous will in turn chair URGO Group.
In September, Briac Le Lous succeeds his father and become the new Chairman of URGO Group, for three years.
Our Mission
French Family-owned URGO Group is an international leading company and world expert in advanced wound care and selfcare.
With its two divisions Urgo Medical and Urgo Consumer Healthcare, URGO Group is engaged on day to day basis with patients, healthcare professionals and the general public. The Group develops innovative wound dressings that have proven their medical superiority through clinical studies, to address an increased need worldwide for the care of chronic wounds. It gives access to responsible healthcare solutions in the areas of first aid, nutritional supplements, sexual well-being, cold and allergies.
3 300 collaborators participate in these missions in 22 countries, among which 10 industrial sites serve the needs of our clients.
URGO developed a sound portfolio of very well-known brands such as Mercurochrome, Alvityl, Juvamine, Sonalto, Ricqlès, Urgo, all serving the Group’s global ambition.
To prepare the future, UrgoTech, the group’s internal start-up has the mission to explore and offer patients the benefits of connected healthcare through artificial intelligence, digital and neurotechnologies which can bring life-changing therapies.
Healing people
Urgo Medical is the advanced wound healing division of the URGO group.
Because serious wounds constitute a significant source of suffering all over the world, our mission, as “Healing Company”, is to relieve and cure patients by providing them with the most appropriate dressings and treatment protocols.
Urgo Medical is committed to working with health professionals on a daily basis to contribute to reducing healing time. Because every wound-free day makes a difference.
To make a difference for patients:
- We invest almost 9% of our annual turnover to in-house R&D programmes and public/private partnerships in order to advance knowledge and treatments of wounds.
- We demonstrate the clinical efficacy of our products with almost 55 studies conducted and 40 scientific publications in indexed periodicals.
- We conduct a dynamic medical education policy with almost 35,000 health professionals trained every year.
- We develop treatment protocols (leg ulcer, diabetic foot ulcer) because we know that each type of wound deserves a specific treatment.
We have succeeded in developing a product protocol responding to each type of wound with UrgoTul, UrgoStart, UrgoK2 and UrgoClean.
Today we are convinced that the overall improvement in the treatment path will contribute to better wound care. This is a major issue for patients, healthcare systems and health professionals. And we think that digital technology and e-health can play a key role in this transformation. This is why, in addition to our products, we are developing digital solutions.
Provide access to responsible healthcare solutions
Urgo Consumer Healthcare is the healthcare and well-being division of URGO Group.
We develop responsible healthcare solutions, chosen by consumers and adapted to the treatment of daily living ache and pain (areas of first aid, nutritional supplements, digestion, hearing, well-being, common cold and allergies).
With its renown brands from customers and healthcare professionals (Humer, Urgo, Mercurochrome, Marie Rose, Intimy, Juvamine) and specialists (Super Diet, Agave…), the Urgo Consumer Healthcare division imagines and develops:
- Everyday ache and pain solutions
- Innovative research-based solutions
- Natural solutions
The three independent companies forming Urgo Consumer Healthcare offer the best service possible to our clients:
- In pharmacies for Laboratoires Urgo Healthcare
- In mid-range and mass-markets for Laboratoires Juva Santé
- In organic and dietetic-product specialised stores for Laboratoires SUPER DIET.
Connected for a better you
In France, 10 million patients are suffering from pathologies such as stress, insomnia, urinal incontinence or TDA/H.
For these conditions, existing treatments need thorough support from healthcare professionals that are often overwhelmed, and can have important secondary effects.
By enabling patients to act upon their health, UrgoTech has the ambition to revolutionize the way these kinds of pathologies are taken care of.
UrgoTech, URGO Group’s startup, was founded in 2015 to imagine, develop and market innovative healthcare solutions, involving healthcare professionals. Psychiatrists, psychologists, gynecologists, midwives, sports doctors or cardiologists; UrgoTech works closely with healthcare professionals in order to identify and understand their patients’ needs. This is with these healthcare professionals that UrgoTech conceives efficient products and solutions that will improve the quality of life of patients.