A Tradition of Excellence

The roots of today's Ciba date back to 1758 when J.R. Geigy Ltd., the oldest chemicals company in Basel, began trading in chemicals and dyes. In 1971, Geigy merged with Ciba ─ a Basel‑based chemicals company founded in 1884 ─ to form Ciba‑Geigy Ltd.

Ciba‑Geigy Ltd. ─ generally known simply as Ciba ─ was a leading worldwide biological and chemicals group dedicated to satisfying needs in three diverse areas: healthcare, agriculture and industry. In March 1996, Ciba and the pharmaceuticals company Sandoz announced plans to merge and form one of the world’s largest life sciences groups ─ Novartis. It was also announced that Ciba’s specialty chemicals divisions would be spun-off within a 12‑month time frame. Ciba Specialty Chemicals became operationally independent from Novartis on January 1, 1997. In 2007 the company was re-named to Ciba.

While Ciba is a new independent company, we are firmly rooted in a heritage of innovation and excellence derived from the former Ciba‑Geigy Ltd.

More history