# DR. KADE ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Founded | 1886 | | Origin | Germany | | Headquarters | Berlin | | Status | Active | | Previous names | Dr. Kade Pharma (public brand appearance, replaced by 'Dr. Kade Health Care' around 2020; legal name remains DR. KADE Pharmazeutische Fabrik GmbH) | | Manufacturing | Berlin-Marienfelde (Rigistraße 2), Berlin, Germany | | Distribution | Pharmacy | | Website | https://www.kade.de/ | DR. KADE is a German pharmaceutical company based in Berlin, legally named DR. KADE Pharmazeutische Fabrik GmbH. It traces its history to 1886, when a pharmacist took over a pharmacy on Berlin's Oranienplatz and kept the name of its previous owner [3]. Over the following 140 years the business grew from a single pharmacy into a manufacturer of over-the-counter and prescription medicines and medical devices, with its own production site in the south of the city. It describes itself as an independent family company [2]. DR. KADE is not a cosmetics house in the usual sense. Its core fields are women's health and proctology, alongside gastroenterology, children's vitamins and what it calls dermocosmetics. Its beauty-adjacent lines are the KadeFemin intimate care range and SIRIDERMA, an alkaline skincare brand made by a subsidiary acquired in 2019. The company is active, publishing current revenue figures and investing in its Berlin plant as of 2025. ## Origin & founders The company's own chronicle begins in 1886, when Dr. Franz Lutze bought the Oranien-Apotheke from the Berlin pharmacist Dr. Rudolph Kade. Lutze chose to keep the name of his predecessor, and that decision gave the later company its name. German Wikipedia states plainly that the company was founded by Franz Lutze in February 1886 [11]. The pharmacy stood in the district of Kreuzberg and, according to the company, supplied among other customers the on-board pharmacy of the imperial yacht "Hohenzollern". DR. KADE still refers to this period when it describes its path "from imperial court supplier" to a mid-sized drug maker. Accounts differ on one detail of the name. The company and a 2022 article in the trade journal Pharmazeutische Zeitung name the previous owner as Dr. Rudolph Kade [3]. German Wikipedia gives a different version: the Charité pharmacist Rudolf Kade received the pharmacy concession in 1860, and the doctorate in the company name refers to his son, Richard Kade [11]. Neither account has displaced the other, so which Kade held the title behind the "Dr." remains open. Manufacturing grew out of the pharmacy itself, and by 1908 production had outgrown the dispensary rooms and moved into a dedicated facility in the building's rear courtyard. In 1919 manufacturing was separated organisationally from the pharmacy. A 2023 feature in Pharmazeutische Zeitung, marking the centenary of Franz Lutze's death, focused on his best-selling product of the era, a so-called "Tropenapotheke", or tropical pharmacy [12]. ## History & milestones After the First World War, when Germany had to give up its colonies, Dr. Felix Lutze, the founder's son, rebuilt the company, according to the trade portal apotheke adhoc. The product that would define it followed soon after. In 1922 the company launched Posterisan, a preparation for haemorrhoids. The original formula used a bacterial culture suspension made from killed Escherichia coli, intended to act on the immune response at the site of application. DR. KADE abbreviates this as BKS and calls the launch a milestone in its product development. Pharmazeutische Zeitung, in a centenary article, credits the development to Franz Lutze working in the Oranien-Apotheke [13]. The launch date itself is not fully settled. The company, Pharmazeutische Zeitung and apotheke adhoc all give 1922, while German Wikipedia places the launch one year after the 1923 start of a Japanese partnership, which would mean 1924 [11]. That partnership, with the Japanese company Maruho, began in 1923 and is, by the company's account, its longest-running international relationship [2]. Success in Germany and the cooperation with Maruho allowed production to expand quickly. In 1949 the physician Dr. Marietta Lutze took over management as the third generation of the family. She led the company for decades, expanded its international activity and was later awarded the Federal Cross of Merit, Germany's order of merit. A new pharmaceutical plant opened in Konstanz in 1962. In 1975 her son, Arthur Sackler, joined the management as the fourth generation. The 1980s and 1990s brought new production and new partners. A modern production site was built in Berlin-Marienfelde in 1982, housing manufacturing and quality control as well as marketing and medical departments. A sales office in the United States has existed since the same year. In 1992 the company formed a joint venture with the French firm Besins, and in 1996 it introduced an environmental management system. In 2003 the company began actively selling to pharmacies, starting with Posterisan and KadeFungin, its two established brands. A Polish joint venture, Kadefarm, followed in 2006, and the company marked its 125th anniversary in 2011. The decade after that was shaped by acquisitions. In 2013 DR. KADE took over an over-the-counter portfolio from Takeda, including Sanostol, Faktu lind and Riopan [3]. Apotheke adhoc later described the deal as a surprise. It reported that the company won nine products from Takeda/Nycomed, including Buer Lecithin and Buer Vitamaxx. The same article suggested that the Konstanz plant that came with the portfolio may have deterred other bidders [14]. The company set up its own pharmacy field force, DR. KADE AVENDA, in the same year. In 2017 it bought six herbal medicines from Hexal, among them Femikliman and Silicur. In 2018 the corporate services moved into the Ullsteinhaus, a historic office building in Berlin-Tempelhof. Meanwhile the original production site on Rigistraße was fully modernised and specialised in semi-solid forms such as creams, ointments, gels, suppositories and vaginal pessaries. The Konstanz site closed on 30 April 2019. Marietta Lutze, who had headed the company for decades, died in early 2019. A further expansion of the Rigistraße plant followed in 2025. The company says the work optimises its semi-solid manufacturing and secures the site for the long term. ## Ownership DR. KADE presents itself as an independent family company that has worked in the pharmaceutical sector since 1886. No parent group is named in the company's own statements. In 2020, apotheke adhoc reported that the owning family, led by Arthur Sackler, supported the company's new direction under chief executive Felix König. König's father, Detlef König, had worked for the company for more than 50 years. The company is itself a parent. In January 2019 it acquired all shares in SIRIUS GmbH, a family company based in Monheim that develops and sells alkaline skincare under the SIRIDERMA name. The purchase price was not disclosed [15]. The Ärzte Zeitung report on the deal described it as an addition to the company's dermatology portfolio, which already included Posterisan and Faktu. Other deals extended the range without full ownership. According to apotheke adhoc, the company secured distribution rights for the detox products of the Austrian brand Panaceo shortly after the SIRIUS purchase. It also took a stake in the start-up Daizu, maker of a sleep drink called Sleep Ink. ## Philosophy & positioning The company sums up its mission as "Wir machen Lebensqualität", or "we create quality of life", which it explains as relieving suffering and maintaining health. Its tagline sets out its niche more directly: "Gesundheit ohne Scham und Stigma", meaning health without shame or stigma. DR. KADE calls itself a specialist for "complaints that nobody likes to talk about", chiefly in women's health and proctology. It names trust, responsibility, openness and passion as its values. Berlin runs through this self-image. The company stresses that its products are developed and made in the city, and it closes its tagline with the words "out of conviction, out of tradition, out of Berlin". According to its own figures, the workforce of more than 300 is split between the Ullsteinhaus, the Rigistraße plant and the field force. The company reports that 59 percent of its employees and half of its managers are women. The image shifted noticeably around 2020. Apotheke adhoc profiled the company under the headline "Dr. Kade: Start-up mit 134 Jahren", a 134-year-old start-up, and noted that the official company name sounded so old-fashioned that it had a certain retro chic. As the portfolio widened, the public-facing name "Dr. Kade Pharma" gave way to a new logo reading "Dr. Kade Health Care" [14]. The new wording was meant to signal a move from pharmaceutical manufacturer to a broader provider of health solutions. The legal name, DR. KADE Pharmazeutische Fabrik GmbH, stayed the same. Marketing changed in tone at the same time. Apotheke adhoc described a viral campaign called "Pojucken" for Posterisan and another, "Holy Schritt", for the intimate care series built around KadeFungin. Sanostol advertising took a light-hearted look at family life, while Buer Lecithin played with retro imagery. ## Products & innovation Posterisan remains central to the company a century after its launch. The original bacterial formula is still sold in several countries outside Germany, such as Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania. In Germany the line now centres on Posterisan akut, which contains the local anaesthetic lidocaine. The manufacturer describes it as the leading over-the-counter haemorrhoid preparation in its home market. The proctology range also includes Posterine and Faktu lind, both based on witch hazel leaf extract, and Posterisan protect, a medical device made with jojoba oil and beeswax to help prevent haemorrhoids from returning. In women's health, DR. KADE says that KadeFungin, made in Berlin, leads the German market for treating acute vaginal thrush [6]. More broadly, it describes itself as the leading provider in Germany for both vaginal yeast infections and haemorrhoids. The KadeFemin series covers external intimate care. The company says it is designed for the daily needs of sensitive intimate skin. The portfolio taken over from Takeda broadened the company's reach. Sanostol supplies vitamin and mineral preparations for children, and Riopan treats heartburn. DR. KADE describes Riopan Magengel as the strongest acid binder on the market, a claim it bases on the product's official prescribing information [8]. SIRIDERMA is the group's most cosmetics-oriented brand. The company describes it as alkaline specialist care built on natural ingredients, meant to calm and regenerate the skin. According to DR. KADE, the formulas leave out alcohol, fragrance and parabens and are vegan. When the brand was acquired in 2019, a company announcement reported by Ärzte Zeitung described the range as certified vegan, developed without animal testing and produced in Germany. No certifying body was named. These claims apply to SIRIDERMA, not to the company's medicines. Manufacturing is a large part of the business. The company states that the Berlin-Marienfelde plant produces 12 million packs a year, including 385 tonnes of creams, ointments and gels and 63 million suppositories and pessaries. About 170 staff work in production and the laboratories. The site was modernised in 2018 and 2019 and, according to the company, inspected and approved under international Good Manufacturing Practice standards. For medical devices, it says it is certified to the latest standards of the EU Medical Device Regulation. DR. KADE also licenses products and manufactures semi-solid medicines for other companies under contract. ## Sustainability The company has run an environmental management system since 1996, which it describes as certified, and it publishes an environmental statement for 2026. It says it works to improve environmental measures along its supply chain. Beyond these statements, no third-party sustainability certifications are documented for the company. ## Recognition & press No industry awards for the company are documented. Its history has been covered repeatedly in the German pharmacy trade press. Pharmazeutische Zeitung marked the Posterisan centenary in 2022 and the centenary of Franz Lutze's death in 2023. Apotheke adhoc profiled the company's repositioning in 2020, and Ärzte Zeitung reported on the SIRIUS takeover in 2019. Marietta Lutze personally received the Federal Cross of Merit. ## Current status DR. KADE is active. On its own website the company reports 2025 revenue of about 99.8 million euros, with 71 percent earned in Germany and 21 percent abroad. Its products are made in Berlin and supplied to 22 countries through 22 partners, the oldest of them Maruho in Japan. The 2025 expansion of the Rigistraße plant and a published environmental statement for 2026 point to continuing investment. Germany remains its core market, and the company is sold mainly through pharmacies and on prescription. ## Timeline {#belagg-timeline} | Year | Event | Source | |---|---|---| | 1886 | Dr. Franz Lutze acquires the Oranien-Apotheke of Dr. Rudolph Kade in Berlin and keeps the Kade name; the pharmacy supplies the on-board pharmacy of the imperial yacht 'Hohenzollern'. | https://www.kade.de/unternehmen/historie/ | | 1908 | Manufacturing moved out of the pharmacy rooms into a dedicated production facility in the building's rear courtyard. | https://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/100-jahre-hilfe-bei-haemorrhoiden-134441/ | | 1919 | Manufacturing organisationally separated from the Oranien-Apotheke. | https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Kade_Pharmazeutische_Fabrik | | 1922 | Launch of hemorrhoid preparation Posterisan, based on an immunologically acting bacterial culture suspension (BKS). | https://www.kade.de/unternehmen/historie/ | | 1923 | Start of partnership with Japanese company Maruho — DR. KADE's longest-running partnership. | https://www.kade.de/unternehmen/ueber-uns/ | | 1949 | Dr. Marietta Lutze, a physician, takes over company management as the third generation. | https://www.kade.de/unternehmen/historie/ | | 1962 | New pharmaceutical plant opened in Konstanz. | https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Kade_Pharmazeutische_Fabrik | | 1975 | Arthur Sackler, son of Marietta Lutze, joins management as the fourth generation. | https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Kade_Pharmazeutische_Fabrik | | 1982 | Modern pharmaceutical production site built in Berlin-Marienfelde. | https://www.kade.de/unternehmen/historie/ | | 1992 | Joint venture DR. KADE/BESINS Pharma (France). | https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Kade_Pharmazeutische_Fabrik | | 1996 | Environmental management system introduced. | https://www.kade.de/unternehmen/ueber-uns/ | | 2003 | Enters active pharmacy distribution with the brands Posterisan and KadeFungin. | https://www.kade.de/unternehmen/historie/ | | 2006 | Joint venture Kadefarm (Poland). | https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Kade_Pharmazeutische_Fabrik | | 2011 | 125th anniversary. | https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Kade_Pharmazeutische_Fabrik | ## Signature products {#belagg-products} - **KadeFungin (vaginal thrush treatment)** — Mit dem bewährten, in Berlin hergestellten KadeFungin® ist DR. KADE der Marktführer bei der Behandlung von akutem Scheidenpilz. — https://www.kade.de/gesundheitsfelder/frauengesundheit/ - **Posterisan (hemorrhoid preparation, launched 1922)** — Mit dem Hämorrhoiden-Präparat Posterisan schreibt man 1922 Medizingeschichte. — https://www.kade.de/unternehmen/historie/ - **KadeFemin (external intimate care series)** — die KadeFemin®-Serie ist auf die besonderen Ansprüche täglicher Pflege sensibler Intimhaut abgestimmt. — https://www.kade.de/gesundheitsfelder/frauengesundheit/ - **Sanostol (children's vitamins)** — Mit den Sanostol® Vitamin- und Mineralstoffpräparaten unterstützt DR. KADE Familien mit Kindern bei der Vitaminversorgung. — https://www.kade.de/gesundheitsfelder/ - **SIRIDERMA (alkaline skin care, via subsidiary SIRIUS)** — Mit der Marke SIRIDERMA bietet unser Tochterunternehmen SIRIUS basische Spezialpflege, die auf natürlichen Inhaltsstoffen basiert und die Haut nachhaltig beruhigt und regeneriert. — https://www.kade.de/gesundheitsfelder/dermokosmetik/ ## Key ingredients {#belagg-ingredients} Hamamelis (witch hazel) leaf extract · jojoba oil · beeswax Source: https://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/100-jahre-hilfe-bei-haemorrhoiden-134441/ ## Proprietary technologies & patents {#belagg-tech} - Bakterienkultursuspension (BKS) — immunologically acting bacterial culture suspension in the original 1922 Posterisan formula (still sold abroad; German Posterisan akut now uses lidocaine) — https://www.kade.de/unternehmen/historie/ ## Mentioned in {#belagg-press} - **Pharmazeutische Zeitung** (2023) — Pharmacy-history feature on the 100th anniversary of the death of company founder Franz Lutze ('Sein Verkaufsschlager – die Tropenapotheke', Christoph Friedrich, 28.08.2023). — https://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/sein-verkaufsschlager-die-tropenapotheke-141833/ - **Pharmazeutische Zeitung** (2022) — '100 Jahre Hilfe bei Hämorrhoiden' — centenary article on Posterisan and the company's history (Elke Wolf, 25.07.2022). — https://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/100-jahre-hilfe-bei-haemorrhoiden-134441/ - **apotheke adhoc** (2020) — 'Dr. Kade: Start-up mit 134 Jahren' — profile of the company's repositioning, acquisitions and switch from 'Pharma' to 'Health Care' (30.05.2020). — https://www.apotheke-adhoc.de/nachrichten/detail/markt/dr-kade-start-up-mit-134-jahren-otc-hersteller-pharma/ - **Ärzte Zeitung** (2019) — 'Dr. Kade übernimmt Anbieter veganer Kosmetik' — report on the takeover of SIRIUS GmbH (Siriderma) (15.01.2019). — https://www.aerztezeitung.de/Wirtschaft/Dr-Kade-uebernimmt-Anbieter-veganer-Kosmetik-253745.html ## Sources 2. (T1) https://www.kade.de/unternehmen/ueber-uns/ 3. (T2) https://www.kade.de/unternehmen/historie/ 6. (T2) https://www.kade.de/gesundheitsfelder/frauengesundheit/ 8. (T2) https://www.kade.de/gesundheitsfelder/ 11. (T3) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Kade_Pharmazeutische_Fabrik 12. (T3) https://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/sein-verkaufsschlager-die-tropenapotheke-141833/ 13. (T3) https://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/100-jahre-hilfe-bei-haemorrhoiden-134441/ 14. (T3) https://www.apotheke-adhoc.de/nachrichten/detail/markt/dr-kade-start-up-mit-134-jahren-otc-hersteller-pharma/ 15. (T3) https://www.aerztezeitung.de/Wirtschaft/Dr-Kade-uebernimmt-Anbieter-veganer-Kosmetik-253745.html --- Glowpedia · · Published 2026-10-13 Please cite with a link to the article URL.