Avanir Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded drug maker in San Diego headed by a former Allergan Inc. executive, plans to move its headquarters to Aliso Viejo.
Avanir’s main product is Abreva, an over-the-counter cold sore cream that’s sold in North America by Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline PLC.
Avanir’s move is part of its bid to hire from the region’s stable of “commercially oriented, profit-oriented, aggressive business types,” according to Chief Executive Eric Brandt.
The company recently tapped a couple of OC executives to boost its management team. And Avanir expects its staff to balloon following the Food and Drug Administration’s expected sign-off in July of Avanir’s Neurodex NDA drug, which treats involuntary emotional expression disorder.
“We felt that by moving to Orange County, we’d have a couple of benefits,” Brandt said. “We got less expensive, office-dedicated space. Second, we’ve got a site now that enables us to draw people who can do commercial and administrative functions from San Diego, from Orange County and from L.A., so it’s centrally located between the two.”
The move will cut some time off Brandt’s commute. Brandt lives in OC, but said that wasn’t a factor in the company’s headquarters move.
He’s the former chief financial officer of Irvine-based drug maker Allergan. Brandt, who had been at Allergan since 1999, became Avanir’s chief executive last summer.
For more on this story, see the June 5 edition of the Business Journal.
