Sandoz is a Novartis Group division that specialises in generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars. Novartis established the division in 2003, when it merged all of its generics businesses under the name Sandoz. Previously, the company was an independent pharmaceutical manufacturer until 1996, when it merged with Ciba-Geigy to form Novartis. Alfred Kern (1850-1893) and Edouard Sandoz (1853-1928) established Chemiefirma Kern und Sandoz in Basel (Switzerland) in 1886. Initially, the company concentrated on the production of dyes such as alizarin blue and auramine. When Kern died in 1895, the company renamed itself Chemische Fabrik vormals Sandoz and began producing pharmaceuticals for the first time that year. Antipyrine, the first pharmaceutical substance, was developed in 1895 to treat fever. Saccharin production began in 1899.