Guerbet is a research-centered pharmaceutical company

Pharmaceutical company

The pharmaceutical industry develops, produces, and markets drugs licensed for use as medications. Pharmaceutical companies are allowed to deal in generic and/or brand medications and medical devices...

 based in France that is one of the major players in the contrast agents

Radiocontrast

Radiocontrast agents are a type of medical contrast medium used to improve the visibility of internal bodily structures in an X-ray based imaging techniques such as computed tomography or radiography...

 business.

The company's main products are:

• Xenetix (Iobitridol
  Iobitridol
  Iobitridol is a molecule used as a contrast medium in X-ray imaging. 45.6% of the molecular mass is contributed by the three iodine atoms.Xenetix 300 of Guerbet contains Iobitridol in 300 mg iodine/ml concentration. Recommended mean doses are 1.1 to 2.8 ml/kg body mass corresponding to 0,33 to...
  
  ) - X-ray
  X-ray
  X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
  
   contrast agent marketed mainly in Europe;
• Oxilan (Ioxilan
  Ioxilan
  Ioxilan is a diagnostic contrast agent. It is injected intravenously before taking X-ray images to increase arterial contrast in the final image. It is marketed under the trade name Oxilan by Guerbet, L.L.C....
  
  ) - X-ray contrast agent marketed mainly in the United States;
• Dotarem (Gadoteric acid
  Gadoteric acid
  Gadoteric acid is a macrocycle-structured gadolinium-based MRI contrast agent. It consists of the organic acid DOTA as a chelating agent, and gadolinium , and is used in form of the meglumine salt. The drug is approved and used in a number of countries worldwide....
  
  ) - MRI contrast agent marketed mainly in Europe.

History

The company is named after the French chemist Marcel Guerbet (1861–1938) , who produced Lipiodol

Lipiodol

Lipiodol also known as ethiodized oil is a poppyseed oil used by injection as a radio-opaque contrast agent that is used to outline structures in radiological investigations. It is used in chemoembolization applications as a contrast agent in follow-up imaging. Lipiodol is also used in...

 in 1901 and his son Andre Guerbert, who founded the company in 1926.
The X-ray

X-ray

X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...

contrast properties of Lipiodol were discovered in 1918.