Orange County’s drug makers saw a modest gain in local workers during the past year, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
The list ranks companies that are based here or that have local operations by their OC workers. This year, it’s been expanded to 12 drug makers, which posted a 2% gain to 3,469 workers in the past year.
Last year the top 10 drug makers posted a 4% gain for a total of 3,407 jobs here.
But this year, there was little movement on the list, with the top nine companies all holding their spots.
One caveat: Figures for four drug makers were estimates.
Historical leader Irvine-based Allergan Inc. again dominated the list.
Allergan, maker of wrinkle-reducer Botox, eye drugs and medical cosmetic products, had an estimated 1,700 workers in the county.
The company has had a busy year. It created its Allergan Medical division for the medical cosmetic products it got from its $3.2 billion buy of Inamed Corp. in 2006.
Allergan also re-entered the breast implant market with its line of silicone implants, which had been banned for the past 15 years. And the company fired up advertising for Juv & #233;derm, a lower-face skin filler for wrinkles, and Lap-Band, a stomach shrinking system to treat obesity.
All three were products Allergan got via its Inamed acquisition.
The drug maker nearly doubled its second-quarter profit on higher sales of drugs, breast implants and wrinkle removers.
Allergan counts 6,772 workers companywide, a 34% increase from a year ago.
Teva Sicor, a unit of Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., followed at No. 2. It saw its headcount grow 3%, or 30 jobs, to 895 workers in Irvine.
Teva Sicor, which makes injectable generic drugs locally, led job growth on the list, adding some 30 people.
The company’s local operation is the result of Teva’s buy of Sicor Inc. nearly four years ago. Teva spent more than $3 billion to buy Sicor, which moved to Irvine 10 years ago after a stint as a branded drug maker in San Diego.
Teva’s companywide employment grew 82% to 26,700 people.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, which moved from Costa Mesa to Aliso Viejo during the past year, held its No. 3 spot, rounding out the big three drug makers here.
Valeant had an estimated 350 local workers. It counts 3,443 workers companywide, a 5% decline.
Besides the move to Aliso Viejo, Valeant sold a pair of plants, businesses and its former Costa Mesa headquarters during the past year.
The sales were the last part of the company’s long running restructuring to get away from its days as ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. The company also has cut jobs.
Tustin drug maker Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc. came in at No. 4 with a 14% worker gain. Peregrine added 16 jobs for a total of 128.
The company’s drug roster includes Tarvacin, a hepatitis C liver disease treatment that’s in clinical trials.
No. 5 Ista Pharma-
ceuticals Inc., an Irvine-based eye drug maker, saw its local workforce grow 10% to 90 people. Ista plans to take additional space at its Alton Parkway headquarters, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
The company’s roster includes Vitrase, a drug that stops back-of-the-eye bleeding, and the glaucoma treatment Istalol.
Local offices of big global drug companies made the list.
Pfizer Inc., the New York-based maker of Viagra and other drugs, ranked No. 6 with an estimated 70 workers at its operations at Irvine Towers near John Wayne Airport.
New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., the No. 9 drug maker, had an estimated 40 workers in its Aliso Viejo distribution offices.
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc., which is based in Irvine and is primarily known for developing cancer drugs, ranked No. 7 with 56 local workers, a 12% gain from a year earlier.
Earlier this summer, Spectrum officials were optimistic about the potential approval of satraplatin, a prostate cancer pill that it co-developed with German partner GPC Biotech AG.
But GPC Biotech withdrew its application for satraplatin shortly after a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended that the agency not approve it until GPC submitted full clinical trial survival data.
Spectrum recently said it signed a licensing deal for another drug, ortataxel, which also fights cancer, with Indena SPA of Italy.
The No. 8 drug maker, Stason Pharmaceuticals Inc., an Irvine cancer and diabetes drug company, had the largest percentage gain in jobs this year. Stason’s workforce grew 29% to 54 workers, a gain of 12 people.
Stason, which offers services such as research and development and production, has seen general business growth, a spokeswoman said.
This year’s expanded list has two newcomers: No. 10 IDM Pharma Inc. and No. 11 Avanir Pharmaceuticals.
IDM Pharma, an Irvine cancer drug maker, saw a 38% decline to 31 workers.
The company’s seen some regulatory ups and downs. Late last month, the company’s shares fell some 17% after the FDA denied approval for Junovan, its bone cancer drug candidate. Regulators wanted additional information. IDM plans to submit an amendment to its application by early next year.
Aliso Viejo-based Avanir Pharmaceuticals moved last year from San Diego to Aliso Viejo. It’s working on a drug that targets pain in diabetics.
In July, the company’s shares shot up some 300% on study results for Zenvia, which treats involuntary emotional expression disorder, such as crying or laughing episodes.
But since then Avanir has seen costly regulatory setbacks with Zenvia, including a regulatory request for more data in October.
The company said it was selling its FazaClo schizophrenia treatment for $42 million to Azur Pharma Ltd. of Ireland so it could focus on Zenvia.
Azur also agreed to pay Avanir up to another $10 million if FazaClo meets certain sales goals.
The last drug maker on the list, No. 12 Cortex Pharmaceuticals Inc., boosted employment 17% to 27 workers. The Irvine-based company has seen some issues with its Ampakine CX717, a memory enhancement drug.
Clinical trials of the drug were suspended late last year.
In May, the drug maker said a study was released that showed Ampakine could be used to fight memory problems caused by Huntington’s disease, a neurological disorder.
It also completed a patent licensing deal with the University of Alberta in Edmonton. The deal could broaden the use of Ampakine to prevent and treat opiate- and barbiturate-induced respiratory depression, Cortex said.
The company has sent a toxicology data package for the drug to the FDA.
