Hysan

Hysan, which its owner writes in lower case as "hysan®", is a German line of nasal-care products made and distributed by URSAPHARM Arzneimittel GmbH, a family-owned pharmaceutical company in Saarbrücken [12]. The range is built around nasal sprays for colds and dry noses, joined by bromelain tablets and a care balm for sore skin around the nose and mouth. Its tagline, "Die Lösung bei Schnupfen" ("the solution for a runny nose"), states the focus plainly.

Hysan sits closer to the pharmacy shelf than to the make-up counter. Most of its products are remedies for nasal complaints, and the only item the company labels a cosmetic is the care balm. Ursapharm, which is best known for its eye-care products, counts Hysan among its most important brands [13]. No launch year for the line has been published, and the brand remains active.

Hysan belongs to URSAPHARM, a pharmaceutical maker with a long history in the German state of Saarland. Four local pharmacists, Albrecht Holzer, Dieter Trox, Werner Buxmann and Werner Bernhard, founded the business in 1974 [14]. According to the company, people in the region at the time largely treated eye conditions with products bought in French pharmacies, and the founders saw a gap for a structured supplier to Saarland pharmacies.

The company started out as a distributor of ophthalmic preparations, meaning medicines for the eyes. The pharmacy trade title APOTHEKE ADHOC reports that its first products were made under licence by Laboratoires POS in Kaysersberg, Alsace, and that the later company name was taken from Albrecht Holzer's pharmacy [16]. Own production of eye drops and eye ointments began in 1976. A plant for tablets and granules followed in 1979, and in 1984 the range grew to include minerals, trace elements, circulation products and enzymes. German Wikipedia records that the firm has traded solely under the Ursapharm name since 1989.

Ursapharm is still family-run. Frank and Dominik Holzer, the second and third generations, lead it today [4]. Its best-known line is HYLO, a group of hyaluronic acid preparations for dry eyes that began with HYLO COMOD eye drops in 1999. German Wikipedia records revenue of 350.3 million euros for 2023, and notes that HYLO became the umbrella brand for all of the company's eye products in 2021.

Figures for the company's workforce vary by source and date. Ursapharm's own company page gives more than 1,000 employees, while its press profile gives more than 950. German Wikipedia lists 1,076 employees for 2023, and a 2016 APOTHEKE ADHOC profile counted more than 500 at that time. The company reports sales offices in a dozen countries and cooperation partners in more than 80.

Alongside Hysan, Ursapharm's portfolio includes HYLO, POSIFORLID, aronia+, Bromelain-POS, Zinkorotat-POS, EvoTears OMEGA, Retaron and the skincare line skjur. No acquisition is documented for Hysan; it appears in the group's portfolio as one of the company's own lines, and the 2016 APOTHEKE ADHOC profile already listed it among Ursapharm's brands.

Ursapharm frames Hysan around the idea that a well-kept nose is the body's first defence against colds. On its English-language brand page, the company says that caring for and hydrating the nasal mucosa, the moist lining inside the nose, lets the nose "fulfill its tasks, hence protect your body against colds" [10].

That idea shapes both the products and the brand's website. Next to its product pages, the site runs advice articles on dry noses, colds, sinus infections and nasal care. One describes how air conditioning, wind and sun can dry out the lining of the nose in summer and cause itching and burning; others cover dryness during pregnancy and how dexpanthenol is used on irritated mucosa.

A recurring theme is gentleness. The company describes several products as free of preservatives and as well tolerated. These claims are made product by product, for the care spray, the decongestant spray and the care balm, rather than for the brand as a whole. Several items are also presented as suitable for children and for use during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

The range is small. Hysan's website lists seven products: a care spray, a decongestant spray in adult and children's versions, a saline spray, a hyaluronic acid spray, bromelain tablets and a care balm.

Hysan Pflegespray (care spray) is the line's lead product. It combines hyaluronic acid, which binds water, with dexpanthenol. According to the company, it moistens and cares for the nasal lining during and after a cold and strengthens its resistance. It contains no preservatives and, the company says, can be used together with a decongestant spray if the two are taken 30 minutes apart. Hysan cites a study published in 2020 in which the spray relieved itching, redness, crusting and breathing difficulties, and in which 91 per cent of patients rated its tolerability as "einwandfrei" (flawless) [3]. The study itself is reported by the brand.

Hysan Schnupfenspray is the decongestant spray. The company says it brings "schnelles und zuverlässiges Abschwellen" (fast and reliable decongestion) of the nasal lining and describes it as preservative-free [11]. It is aimed at adults and school-age children, with a separate children's version. The product page does not name the active ingredient.

Hysan Salinspray takes a gentler route. It is based on a concentrated sea-salt solution which, according to the company, draws excess water out of the swollen lining and thins mucus so it can drain. The brand says it can reduce how long people need to rely on medicated decongestant sprays, and that it is suitable from the age of one.

Hysan Hyaluronspray uses high-viscosity hyaluronic acid, a natural part of the nasal lining. It is intended for dry noses, dryness caused as a side effect of other medicines, and as supporting care during sinus infections or allergies. Here too, Hysan cites a 2020 study, saying the spray eased itching, blocked breathing and the feeling of dryness, with the same 91 per cent tolerability rating [9].

Hysan Pflegebalsam (care balm) is the line's one cosmetic. The company describes it as a balm for irritated facial skin, especially around the nose and mouth after frequent nose-blowing during a cold or hay fever. It is also suggested for cracked corners of the mouth and the outer ear. Its short ingredient list is built on petrolatum, mineral oil (paraffinum liquidum) and lanolin, with retinyl palmitate as a source of vitamin A plus BHT and BHA. The company describes it as preservative-free and usable without age restriction.

The range is completed by bromelain tablets, an enzyme product that Ursapharm also sells under its separate Bromelain-POS brand.

Hysan's parent has its own packaging technology for liquid medicines. In 1993 Ursapharm introduced COMOD, a multi-dose container system that keeps liquids such as eye drops sterile without preservatives. In 1997 it added the 3K pump, which the company says has proved itself especially in medicines and medical devices applied in the nose [7]. German Wikipedia likewise notes that the 3K system is used in the manufacture of nasal sprays [14]. Ursapharm does not state which Hysan products, if any, use either system.

No third-party certifications are documented for the brand.

Independent coverage of Hysan comes mainly from the German pharmacy trade press. In 2012, APOTHEKE ADHOC reported on a test by the consumer magazine Öko-Test, which rated 60 cold remedies. All ten decongestant nasal sprays in the test, among them Hysan's, received the grade "befriedigend" (satisfactory) [15]. The report noted that sprays in this category contain active ingredients such as xylometazoline or oxymetazoline, which can lead to dependence with prolonged use; it did not single out any details of Hysan's formula.

The same publication's 2016 profile of Ursapharm, headlined "Das Erfolgsgeheimnis der Pharma-Bären" ("The success secret of the pharma bears"), mentioned Hysan as one of the company's brands [16].

Hysan is active. Its German-language website presents the full seven-product range, and the hyaluronic acid spray page was last updated on 31 March 2026 [9]. Ursapharm continues to list Hysan among its most important brands in its current company profile, alongside HYLO, aronia+, Bromelain-POS, Zinkorotat-POS and POSIFORLID.