Generic drug maker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. said Tuesday it’s resumed production at its Irvine plant.
Israel-based Teva said restarting the Irvine operation was “a significant step for improving its product availability for the U.S. injectable market.”
The drug maker’s Irvine plant had been on a voluntary manufacturing and distribution hold for a year in the wake of quality control and regulatory issues.
At the end of 2009, Teva’s Irvine site had received a Food and Drug Administration warning letter that detailed “significant” manufacturing violations there. The company said that fixing the problems took longer than expected.
The Irvine plant once made propofol, an anesthetic that gained notoriety in the death of Michael Jackson.
Some of Teva’s version of the drug was recalled after elevated levels of toxins were found in Irvine.
Teva no longer makes propofol.
Problems at the Irvine plant cut Teva’s 2010 sales by $230 million, the drug maker said in February. Overall, Teva reported full-year sales of $16.1 billion, up 16% from a year earlier.
