Orange County’s largest drug makers combined to add jobs as they introduced new products over the past 12 months, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
The 15 companies on the list, which ranks them by local employment, combined to add 630 workers, for a total of 5,562 in Orange County.
That’s a gain of about 12%.
Last year, the 13 drug companies on the list grew employment by about 6%.
Irvine-based Allergan Inc., the list’s perennial No. 1, maintained its rank with a healthy rate of job growth.
Allergan reported 3,693 workers in the county, up about 21% from a year earlier.
Allergan makes eye and skin drugs as well as medical cosmetics such as Botox, lower-face fillers, breast implants and the Lap-Band weight loss device.
During the past year, Allergan has had several new products approved and introduced, including Botox for treating chronic migraine headache and a type of overactive bladder.
Allergan’s gains helped offset job cuts elsewhere. It has about seven times more employees than the list’s No. 2 entry, Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd., an Israel-based generic drug maker.
Teva said it now has 500 workers at an Irvine plant, down about 36% from a year earlier.
Teva previously employed 776 people in the county.
The company said in June that it would cut some 156 workers in the latest round of layoffs stemming from an earlier year-long production halt.
The drug maker cut 200 workers in Irvine late last year and 70 workers several months before that as it addressed concerns about quality control at its facility.
Teva’s most recent round of layoffs began when it stopped making propofol.
This year’s list is marked by the emergence of several newcomers, along with a large drop by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, which got its start in the 1960s as ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Costa Mesa and moved to Aliso Viejo in 2006.
Valeant was sold last fall to Biovail Corp. in Canada for $3.2 billion. The combined company took on the Valeant name and moved the corporate headquarters and Chief Executive J. Michael Pearson, a Canadian native, to Ontario, Canada.
Previously, Valeant employed an estimated 200 people in Aliso Viejo. This year, the Business Journal estimates there are some 20 people at its Aliso Viejo operation.
Valeant was the perennial No. 3 drug maker on the list, ousted last year from the spot by newcomer Anchen Pharmaceuticals Inc. This year, another newcomer snagged the No. 3 spot: Dendreon Corp.
Seattle-based Dendreon, which makes the Provenge drug for fighting advanced prostate cancer, opened its Seal Beach manufacturing plant at the end of June. The Business Journal estimates Dendreon employs 250 workers there; the company has never said precisely how many people it would hire for Seal Beach.
Earlier this month, Dendreon’s stock took a major hit after it disclosed Provenge sales were going slower than expected. The company also said it planned to lay off an unspecified number of workers at Orange County and other operations.
At No. 4 is Anchen Pharm-aceuticals, an Irvine maker of what are called specialty generic drugs, including versions of popular antidepressant Wellbutrin XL and antibiotic Cipro.
The Business Journal estimates Anchen has 220 workers.
Last week, Woodcliff Lake, N.J.-based Par Pharmaceutical Companies Inc. said it would spend $410 million to buy Anchen in a bid to boost its drug portfolio as a number of well-known drugs’ patents get ready to expire.
No. 14 Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. is the list’s second newcomer. Questcor, maker of H.P. Acthar Gel to treat multiple sclerosis flares and other disorders, moved its corporate headquarters from the Bay Area to Anaheim about a year ago.
Chief Executive Don Bailey, a Yorba Linda resident, and 11 others work at Questcor’s headquarters in Anaheim.
No. 7 Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Aliso Viejo posted the largest job growth by percentage on the list. Avanir said its Orange County work force grew to 130 workers from 20 a year ago, a 550% hike.
Much of that activity appears to be linked to the introduction of Nuedexta, Avanir’s drug for treating pseudobulbar affect, a disorder that causes uncontrollable episodes of laughing or crying and is found in connection with other disorders such as traumatic brain injury.
Avanir has reported higher sales and marketing expenses during its last two financial quarters primarily related to Nuedexta commercialization activity.
