Our history

Innovation is part of our heritage and a key driver to our continued operational excellence.

The story of Wellspect

Wellspect was formerly part of Swedish Astra Tech, which had a dental business and a healthcare business. In 2011, Dentsply Sirona (previously Dentsply International), the world’s largest manufacturer of dental implants acquired Astra Tech. The dental business was merged into Dentsply, while a new monolithic brand was developed for the healthcare business which became known as Wellspect HealthCare. Wellspect is an industry-lead in the field of continence care. Making a real difference is tied to the history of our company. In 1983, we invented LoFric, the world's first hydrophilic catheter which revolutionized the catheter market and radically transformed the end-user experience. Innovation continues to be a cornerstone of our business. It underpins our mission to make a real difference, now and for the future.

Our milestones

1948 Company founded as a hospital wholesaler named AB Sjukvårdsutensilier

1957   Astra AB acquired the company

1976 Shift from wholesaler to medical device manufacturer with in-house R&D

1983   The launch of LoFric - the world’s first hydrophilic catheter

1990   Dental Implants was introduced as a business division

1992   The name Astra Tech was introduced

2011 DENTSPLY International Inc. acquired Astra Tech AB

2012 Wellspect HealthCare and DENTSPLY Implants were launched

2016 DENTSPLY International Inc. and Sirona merger

2022   Wellspect as a legal entity introduced

The history of LoFric

Born in Sweden 1983, LoFric was the world’s first hydrophilic catheter – a true revolution at the time. With LoFric, self-catheterization became a real, viable option for people with bladder problems. For nearly thirty years now, LoFric has improved the everyday for thousands of people around the world, helping them to lead a more balanced and independent life.

The history of Navina

With its strong medical heritage within bladder management, Wellspect realized the need for innovative bowel care and developed a complete range of products for bowel care in 2016, under the name Navina. Since then, Navina bowel care products have helped thousands of people with chronic constipation and bowel leakage, while also enabling them to secure independence.

With Navina™ Smart and its accompanying electronic pump, Wellspect modernized the transanal irrigation (TAI) therapy- making it more precise and easier to follow-up.