Since its origin, the mission of ECR Pharmaceuticals has been to manufacture primary care products of unexcelled quality and to assure these are available to patients at an affordable price. This philosophy has been reduced to a simple statement: "Quality Products at a Price the Patient Can Afford”. ECR places this phrase on virtually all literature, correspondence, and other information it produces as a daily reminder to our employees and customers of the company’s continuing commitment to healthcare professionals and patients.

For more than a century the Robins family has been involved in the pharmaceutical industry. It all began in 1866, just after the Civil War, as a small apothecary shop established by Albert Hartley Robins in downtown Richmond, Virginia. In the years to follow, the small struggling business was kept afloat by A.H. Robins’ son, Claiborne, and his wife Martha. Unfortunately, Claiborne died at a very early age leaving Martha with the business and a three-year-old son, E. Claiborne Robins. The business survived the economic stresses of World War I and the Great Depression, and eventually was taken over by E. Claiborne Robins, then 23 years of age and fresh out of pharmacy school. Mr. Robins not only helped his mother run the firm, but served as the primary salesperson for the company during these early years, traveling from Virginia to as far west as Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri to sell the company’s products to physicians and pharmacies. In the years which followed, his vision and commitment guided the firm to national prominence. In the early 1980’s, a fourth generation of the family, E. Claiborne Robins, Jr., assumed the leadership of the company and its sales reached almost $1 billion by the end of the decade.

The AH Robins Company was sold to American Home Products (now Wyeth) in 1989. Shortly thereafter, E. Claiborne Robins, Jr. established ECR Pharmaceuticals, to continue the legacy of the family’s long held pharmaceutical interests.

Through its internal development of products and acquisition of other firms, ECR has achieved national distribution of its products through all major wholesale suppliers. ECR continues to develop and seek innovative products and partnerships which can further enhance the firm's portfolio and growth. It has aggressively pursued and applied technological advances to improve therapy through drug products which afford enhanced patient compliance. The company enters the 21st century positioned to play a pivotal role in developing products and utilizing technologies that will provide beneficial new pharmaceutical products to healthcare professionals and patients.

A common thread throughout the generations has been not only the company’s commitment to make affordable quality products, but also its recognition of the importance of each of its many employees, regardless of his or her specific role. This is best captured by the often repeated statement of company management: “Our balance sheet contains no entry more important than our people”.

ECR Pharmaceuticals is a privately held firm based in Richmond, Virginia.