PEKANA History
The PEKANA history forms an inseparable unit with the history of the couple Katharina and Peter Beyersdorff; their initials also provide the company name: PE(ter), KA(tharina) and NA(tural remedy). The success of many mid-sized companies is often the result of the courageous and consistent actions of two people who have combined their fortunes not only in private but also in business life in order to make their vision come true, borne by the love and dedication for the joint commitment and the love they share with each other.
A (com)Passionate Pharmacist
Peter Beyersdorff was born 1928 in Stettin. At that time nobody could suspect that such a terrible event would repeat itself just two decades after World War I had ended. Those who lived through these years were deeply marked by the events. It was a time that required sacrifice, discipline and flexibility. One of Peter Beyersdorff’s friends was the son of a pharmacist and so Peter Beyersdorff had an early insight into the way a pharmacy was run; at the time many remedies were manufactured on the premises.
The manufacture of ointments, pills or powders and the use of plants were the rule. And it was this very profession that was to become the passion of the young man from Stettin. When the war was over, Peter Beyersdorff completed a two-year apprenticeship and then started to study pharmacology at the University of Tübingen, which he successfully concluded with a degree as pharmacist in 1957. From then on, the south of Germany became his private and professional home. In 1962 he was awarded his scientific doctorate, with his dissertation written on the medicinal plant ‘common broom’, with which he concluded his professional education.
From Pharmacist to Manufacturer
His first leased pharmacy was followed by the 1961 establishment of the Burg Pharmacy in Baden’s Sulzfeld. Early on, severe and incurable diseases in his personal environment pointed Peter Beyersdorff towards researching possible alternatives to the then existing supply of medicines. This led him to develop a homeopathic remedy range comprising 70 products within a period of10 years. In 1975 the Regional Council of Karlsruhe granted the first permit of manufacture; the founding stone for today’s PEKANA Naturheilmittel GmbH was laid.
Exploring New Ways Together
In 1978 Katharina and Peter Beyersdorff met during a pharmacy internship. From the very beginning, in addition to a deep personal relationship, the two of them were united by their great love of nature and their enthusiasm for manufacturing products of herbal origin.
In Germany in the early 1980s, owning a pharmacy was a sound means of existence. Still, regardless of this secure background, Katharina and Peter Beyersdorff gave up the pharmacy to turn exclusively to the manufacture of homeopathic-spagyric remedies. This decision was based on their unwavering belief in this healing method.
In the early business years Katharina and Peter Beyersdorff each held various positions at the same time. Because of the experience gained during that time, today Katharina Beyersdorff knows all there is to know about products, therapists and the needs of the employees.
Innovative Thinking for the Future
The founders of PEKANA Naturheilmittel GmbH, Katharina and Peter Beyersdorff, took the challenges of a pharmaceutical enterprise head on at a very early stage. The expansion of the facilities in the mid 1990s was followed by the certification according to GMP standard in the year 2000, signifying a global and approved quality assurance for the production. The successful inspection by the American Food and Drug Administration in the year 2008 was another confirmation of the company’s consistent approach.
