Australian skincare manufacturer, Ego Pharmaceuticals, is celebrating its 70th Anniversary this year, having led the way in the development of innovative skincare products since 1953.
Ego was founded when Gerald Oppenheim and his wife Rae saw a need for products to restore and maintain healthy skin.
In the laundry of their suburban Melbourne home they first developed Pinetarsol, which still remains one of Australia’s most widely used inflammation treatments.
As a chemist, Gerald was uniquely positioned to formulate innovative products that people needed to treat their skin. Rae, a nurse, communicated the benefits of the products to dermatologists across Australia. From the beginning, they established Ego as innovators in the scientific development of dermatology products.
Gerald’s father, Dr Erwin Oppenheim, was a successful dermatologist and ran his own practice in Germany, before emigrating to Australia with his family in 1939, when Gerald was 13 years old.
The name ‘Ego’ is an acronym for Erwin and Gerald Oppenheim.
In 1975, Gerald was asked by Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Hospital to develop a specialist bath oil for their dermatology patients. The result was QV Bath Oil, named in honour of the hospital.
Over four decades on, the QV brand remains synonymous with quality, science and sensitive skin.
Ego produces over 120 different products through some of Australia’s most trusted brands, including QV, DermAid hydrocortisone creams, Aqium hand sanitiser, SunSense sunscreen, and MOOV Head Lice Solution.
Ego has grown into a global brand, now exporting to over 20 countries across the globe.
But even as a world-leader, the company is still proudly Australian family-owned and operated.
Today, Gerald and Rae’s son Alan is Ego’s Managing Director, and his wife Jane is Scientific and Operations Director.
All of Ego’s products are still proudly manufactured in Australia, at their very own world-class plant in Melbourne.
For more information, news and updates from Ego Pharmaceuticals, visit the website.