Piedmont Chemical
 Logo  Headquarters | |
| Public | |
| Traded as | PPST:PC |
| Industry | Pharmaceutical Chemical |
| Founder | Heiner Knoerr (1838–1911) Ian Uhlmann (1846–1906) |
Piedmont Chemical (Vespasian: Piemonte Chimica) formerly known as Standard Chemical (Vespasian: Chimico Standard) is an Adamantine multinational chemical and pharmaceutical corporation headquartered in Casamassella, San Loreto. The company was established in 1891 in Porto Pellegrini by two Weranian immigrants, Heiner Knoerr (1838–1911) and Ian Uhlmann (1846–1906). It has regional offices and production sites in Gaullica, Shangea and Marchenia.
Piedmont Chemical develops and produces an array of medicines, vaccines and industrial chemicals. Piedmont is best known for its development of Aspirina (acetylsalicylic acid) (1890), Insulina (insulin lispro) (1994) and Lucida (chlorpromazine) (1949). Piedmont's initial financial success was from its production of bleach and potassium bromide in the 1890s. During the Great War it mass produced key components for mustard gas, including potassium sulfide and 2-chloroethanol. In 1961 its brand of thalidomide was removed from shelves in Estmere for causing the malformation of infant limbs, although returning in 1998 as a prescription treatment for cancer. It was among the first companies to mass-produce the polio vaccine, and has been a leading developer and producer of antipsychotics, antidepressants and synthetic opioids. Piedmont has several medications that individually generate more than ADM$1 billion in annual revenues.
Piedmont is a component of the Piedmont Cato Industrial Average (PCIA) and is publicly traded on the Porto Pellegrini Stock Exchange (PPST) and several of its chemical commodities are sold on the Porto Pellegrini Board of Trade (PPBT). The company is the second largest corporation by operating income, and the first in revenue in Adamantina. In 2020, 18% of the company's revenues came from Adamantina, 15% from nations in Asteria Inferior, 26% from Asteria Superior and 41% from Coius and Euclea.
History
Collaborative research
Public-private engagement
Products
Pharmaceutical
Chemical
Gapolania
Standard Chemical began construction on its second chemical plant in Gapolania in 1972, the Gapolania Sulfuric Plant No.1, creating several thousands of jobs in the process. In 1976 the plant was opened and production of sulfuric acid began shortly thereafter. The sulfuric acid is utilized for the production of phosphoric acid, which is then utilized to manufacture phosphate fertilizers. During the 1980s the plant was closed for roughly two years to reconfigure the plant to utilize a new production regiment, known as wet sulfuric acid process (WSA process).
The plant utilizes 2 smelters, 3 sulfur burning furnace, 3 converters, 3 absorption towers and fifteen acid storage tanks. The facility has increased it production capacity since the 70s, and now has the capacity to produce 300,000 tons of sulfuric acid per years. Initially the plant had extremely low power efficiency and was dependent on nearby coal plants for energy. The plant is now powered by a natural gas powerplant outside of Nassea. In 1998, the plant was retooled for to increase heat recovery. In 1998, two additional facilities were created beside the Gapolania Sulfuric Plant No.1 for the production of ammonium sulfate (utilized for water purification and commercial use fertilizer (utilized for agricultural purposes). These two new facilities created an additional two thousand jobs. Utilizing the byproducts of two coal plants from Nassea and a steel mill in Porto Pellegrini, the ammonium sulfate is crystalize and utilized for the agricultural industry; primarily for coffee plantations in Gapolania.
Leadership
Controversies
Beldormenta
In 1956 Piedmont Chemical began producing Beldormenta as a remedy for morning sickness, a symptom of pregnancy that involves nausea or vomiting. The symptoms occur typically between the 4th and 16th week of pregnancy. Piedmont Chemical patented the combination of pridoxine hydrochloride and doxylamine succinate after a series of test conducted at the University of San Loreto found that the combination could used to the benefit of pregnant women in 1951. The Adamantine Association of Gynecologists and Obstetricians (AAGO) stated in 2001 that it should be utilized as a "first-line treatment", but some within the medical community found that the drug had little benefit. Since the mid-1950s, roughly 230 million women across the developed world have utilized the drug. No endemiological study has found any teratogenic effect. Some adverse affects were found with the drug, noticeably drowsiness. In 1967 a warning was placed on the prescription telling women not to take the drug while breastfeeding, due to doxylamine's small molecular weight which could be passed to children.
Utilizing several celebrities' within Adamantina, Piedmont Chemical mobilized on social media platforms to push the drugs efficacy. The drug came under scrutiny after the popularization of over the counter doxylamine, utilized as an antihistamine to provide night-time allergy and cold relief along with the sale of over the counter Vitamin B6. The Adamantine Journal of Medical Review claimed in 2019 that the company was selling the combination of two over the counter drugs marked up by roughly 3503%. It is still one of the most prescribed drugs in the developed world to pregnant women. Several donations throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s to the Adamantine Association of Gynecologists and Obstetricians by the Uhlmann and Knoeer families have since been questioned by the medical community.