The county’s largest drug makers continued to add local jobs during the past year.
The 15 companies that make up the list had a total of 5,745 workers in Orange County as of August, or 4% more than a year earlier, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
Drug makers on last year’s list grew their employment by 12%.
Four of the companies on this year’s list added workers, four had fewer workers, and three remained flat. Four of the totals were estimates. Companies are ranked based on number of employees.
Allergan Inc., the longtime dominant company on the list, grew its local employment by 8% during the past year. The Irvine-based maker of Botox and other drugs reported having 3,979 local workers.
A good deal of Allergan’s job growth is likely related to research and development. Allergan has said that it expects to spend close to $1 billion on research and development this year.
“We put a lot of new programs into the clinic,” Chief Executive David Pyott told attendees at the company’s research and development day in March.
Allergan recently opened a research and development center in Bridgewater, N.J., that figures to add 400 jobs in the next three to five years.
Scott Whitcup, who heads Allergan’s research and development unit, has said there would be continued growth in Orange County.
Allergan has almost eight times as many workers as No. 2 Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd., a generic drug maker headquartered in Israel.
The Business Journal estimates that Teva has 500 workers at its Irvine plant this year. Teva said last year that its 500 employees represented a 36% decrease in its work force from a year earlier.
Teva has cut nearly 300 jobs in Irvine during the past few years amid some quality-control problems and at least one production halt.
Dendreon
Dendreon Corp. took the No. 3 spot again, with the Seattle biotechnology company reporting 250 workers at its manufacturing plant in Seal Beach.
Dendreon—which makes Provenge, a drug for fighting advanced prostate cancer—has struggled for more than a year after it disclosed that sales were going slower than expected. The company announced plans to cut 600 of its 1,500 jobs companywide and close its Morris Plains, N.J., plant in July.
The list’s No. 4 spot is held by the Irvine operation of Par Pharmaceuticals Inc. The Business Journal estimates Par has 200 workers here.
Par entered OC last year with its $410 million buy of generic drug maker Anchen Pharmaceuticals Inc. Par sought Anchen for its generic drug capabilities.
No. 5 Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Tustin-based cancer-drug developer, has 181 OC workers. Peregrine shares are up more than 40% this year on surging hopes for its lung-cancer drug candidate bavituximab.
Peregrine does have detractors. The Seeking Alpha website recently published two critical stories by short sellers that questioned bavituximab’s potential.
OC also is the home of regional offices for a number of large drug makers.
No. 6 Pfizer Inc., known for its Viagra erectile dysfunction drug, has a regional sales office in Irvine. The Business Journal estimates Pfizer has 150 local workers.
Irvine-based Ista Pharmaceuticals Inc., ranked No. 7 with 114 workers, makes eye drugs, including Bepreve for eye allergies and Bromday for treating pain after cataract surgery. Ista was acquired this year by Bausch & Lomb Inc. of Rochester, N.Y., for $500 million.
Bausch has its eye surgery hub in Aliso Viejo.
The Business Journal estimates that No. 8 Celgene Corp. of Summit, N.J., has 100 workers at a research and development office in Costa Mesa.
Celgene makes drugs for cancer and inflammatory disorders. It got its Costa Mesa office as a result of its buy of Los Angeles-based Abraxis BioScience Inc. for $2.9 billion in 2010.
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. came in at No. 9 on the list with 86 Orange County employees as of August. Spectrum moved its corporate headquarters from Irvine to Henderson, Nev., last year as part of a shift into commercialization from research and development.
No. 12 Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Anaheim posted the largest job growth by figures.
Questcor’s employee count went up 33%, but the actual number of jobs only went up by four—to 16 from 12.
Questcor makes H.P. Acthar Gel, an injectable drug for several different conditions. Those include kidney disease nephrotic syndrome, multiple sclerosis flare-ups and infantile spasms, a rare form of epilepsy.
Irvine-based Stason Pharmaceuticals Inc. rounds out the top 10 on the list with 70 workers, unchanged from a year earlier. Stason is involved both in research and development and drug production.
Decline
No. 11 Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc.—which makes the Nuedexta drug for pseudobulbar affect, a disorder marked by uncontrollable laughing or crying, saw the biggest decline on the list. The Aliso Viejo-based company said it had 65 OC employees, compared to 130 a year ago.
