United-Guardian, Inc. is a Delaware corporation that, through its Guardian
Laboratories Division ("Guardian"), manufactures and markets cosmetic
ingredients, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, medical lubricants, health
care products, and specialty industrial products. It also conducts research
and product development, primarily related to the development of new and unique
cosmetic and personal care products. The Company’s research and development
department also modifies, refines, and expands the uses for existing products,
with the goal of further developing the market for the Company's products.
United's predecessor, United International Research, Inc. ("UIR"),
was founded and incorporated in New York in 1942 by Dr. Alfred R. Globus, United's
Chairman and Director of Research until his death on April 9, 2009. On February
10, 1982, a merger took place between UIR and Guardian Chemical Corp. ("GCC"),
an affiliate of UIR, whereby GCC was merged into UIR and the name was changed
to United-Guardian, Inc., a New York corporation. On September 14, 1987, United-Guardian,
Inc. (New York) was merged with and into a newly-formed Delaware corporation
by the same name, United-Guardian, Inc., for the purpose of changing the domicile
of the Company to Delaware.
The Company manufactures and markets cosmetic ingredients, personal and health
care products, medical lubricants, pharmaceuticals, and specialty industrial
products. It also conducts research and development, primarily related to the
development of new and unique cosmetic and personal care products. The Company
focuses on the development of products that fill unmet market needs, have unique
properties, and use proprietary technology that it sometimes protects with patents.
Many of the Company's products are marketed through collaborative agreements
with larger companies. The personal care products manufactured by the Company,
including the cosmetic ingredients, are marketed to end users through the Company's
worldwide network of marketing partners and distributors, and are currently
used by many of the major manufacturers of cosmetic and personal care products.
The Company sells product outright to its marketing partners, Ex Works (EXW)
the Company’s plant in Hauppauge, New York. Those marketing partners in
turn resell those products to their customers, who are typically the manufacturers
and marketers of cosmetic and personal care products, and who in turn utilize
the Company’s products in their finished products. The products are not
sold on a consignment basis, so unless a product is determined to be defective
it is not returnable except at the discretion of the Company.
The Company operates in one business segment. The Company’s products
are separated into four distinct product categories: personal care products
(including cosmetic ingredients), pharmaceuticals, medical products, and industrial
products. Each product category is marketed differently.
The Company’s personal care products, including cosmetic ingredients,
are marketed globally by six marketing partners, of which Ashland Specialty
Ingredients (“ASI”), a business segment of Ashland, Inc., is the
largest. The products are sold directly to those marketing partners, which in
turn resell those products to its customers for use in the manufacture or compounding
of the customers’ personal care and cosmetic products. The Company’s
non-pharmaceutical medical products (referred to hereinafter as “medical
products”) and the specialty industrial products are sold directly by
the Company to the end users or to contract manufacturers utilized by the end
users. The Company’s pharmaceutical products are marketed by direct advertising,
mailings, and trade exhibitions, and are sold to hospitals and pharmacies primarily
through full-line drug wholesalers, which purchase the Company’s products
outright for resale to their customers. The Company also sells a small quantity
of pharmaceutical products directly to hospitals and pharmacies. The Company's
products are sold under trademarks or trade names owned by the Company, some
of which are registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office as
well as comparable regulatory agencies in some foreign countries.
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