Orange County’s 10 largest drug makers held steady on the job front during the past year.
The Business Journal’s annual list of largest drug makers based in OC or with operations here is ranked by local employment. The list included 10 companies with 4,355 workers, up 2% from a year ago.
Three drug makers dominated the list, as they have historically: No. 1 Allergan Inc. of Irvine, No. 2 Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Inc. of Israel, which bought Irvine’s Sicor Inc. nearly two years ago, and No. 3 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International of Costa Mesa.
Allergan, Teva and Valeant accounted for some 84% of OC’s total drug-related workforce.
One caveat: Several numbers on the list were Business Journal estimates, including Allergan, which declined to break out local employment. Company-wide employment for the 10 companies on the list fell 3% to 225,948, versus a year earlier.
Allergan, maker of the popular Botox wrinkle reducer and drugs for treating eye and skin ailments, was the historic dominant figure in OC’s drug landscape. Allergan’s local workforce grew an estimated 3% to 2,500 workers.
During the past year, Allergan’s highest-profile win was a lawsuit filed against it and Arnold Klein, a celebrity dermatologist, by Irena Medavoy, half of a Hollywood power couple.
Medavoy alleged that she became ill after receiving Botox shots to treat her migraine headaches. She lost the case and later dropped an appeal.
In April, Allergan said it planned to cut some 160 jobs from its operations at Mougins, France, and other European locations.
The drug maker said it was moving research and development, sales and administrative work to its Irvine home base, along with plants in High Wycombe, England, and Dublin, Ireland.
Teva, which makes generic injectable drugs and compounds used to make other drugs, retained the No. 2 spot with 750 local workers, unchanged from last year.
Teva spent about $3.4 billion in late 2003 to buy Sicor, which had been based in Irvine since 1997.
Valeant reported 419 local workers, in line with last year’s figure.
In recent years, the company formerly known as ICN Pharmaceuticals shucked off Eastern European business units including quite a few of its manufacturing operations after a 2002 board and management shakeup.
Valeant’s highlights in the past year include signing actress Courteney Cox Arquette of “Friends” fame to be the spokeswoman for Kinerase, its anti-aging dermatology product line.
The drug maker also rolled out Kinerase in the high-end retail market through a deal with Sephora, the perfume and cosmetics chain.
Valeant and Allergan struck a pact earlier this year to distribute Botox in Hungary and Poland.
The list also included local sales and marketing offices of large global drug makers.
Eli Lilly & Co., which is based in Indianapolis and is the creator of antidepressant Prozac, ranked No. 4 with an estimated 290 workers at its sales office in Anaheim.
No. 5 Pfizer Inc. of New York, which has operations at the Irvine Center Towers near John Wayne Airport, had an estimated 190 workers at its regional sales office.
Pfizer’s drug roster includes Viagra, the sexual dysfunction fighter that’s become a cultural touchstone since its introduction.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., the No. 7 drug maker that’s also out of New York, had an estimated 40 workers in its Aliso Viejo distribution office. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s drugs include Erbitux, a cancer treatment.
Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc., the No. 6 drug maker, saw its employment grow 6% to 88 local workers in the past year. Peregrine is developing a hepatitis C treatment, Tarvacin, which has been approved for trials by the Food and Drug Administration.
Peregrine kept its employment relatively steady after reporting a 46% jump in local workers for the 2004 list, largely because of growth in its research and development staff.
No. 8 Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Irvine reported 30 local workers, up 36% from last year.
Spectrum was embroiled in a shareholder fight earlier this year with the Xmark Funds of Stamford, Conn., which charged that the company ignored its calls for corporate governance reform and board accountability.
“We think there is an incredible amount of untapped value in this company,” said Mitchell Kaye, Xmark’s chief investment officer, earlier this year.
Officials with Spectrum, which is developing cancer treatments, deny Xmark’s charges.
Spectrum Chief Executive Rajesh Shrotriya said that it communicates regularly with all of its stockholders and that “we wouldn’t be where we are today without the dedication, knowledge, and experience of this team.”
Other companies on the list were No. 9 Stason Pharmaceuticals Inc., which reported 25 workers, unchanged from last year, and No. 10 Cortex Pharmaceuticals, up 15% to 23 employees.
Stason, which is developing treatments for cancer and diabetes, and Cortex, which makes neurological and psychiatric drugs, are based in Irvine.
