Orange County’s drugmaker industry chalked up 3.5% employment growth this year, led by Glaukos Corp. and Tarsus Pharmaceuticals Inc.
OC employees at the five companies surveyed by the Business Journal boosted employment to the current 2,800 from 2,705 last year, based on estimates and numbers submitted by the companies.
Glaukos, whose product lines include treatments for glaucoma and dry eyes, jumped nearly 22% to 556 employees for the No. 2 slot on the Business Journal’s list of largest local drugmakers by headcount (NYSE: GKOS).
Christopher Lewis, vice president of Aliso Viejo-based Glaukos, told stock analysts in February that 2025 was a “milestone year.”
“In addition to surpassing $500 million in annual sales, we celebrated our tenth anniversary of our 2015 IPO, surpassed 1,000 employees worldwide, and broke ground on a new facility in Huntsville, Alabama,” Lewis said.
Glaukos CEO Thomas Burns said the company was “delighted” to announce the FDA approval of its eye therapy Epioxa.
Glaukos is currently the most valuable public company in Orange County’s thriving ophthalmology sector with a market cap of $7 billion.
Glaukos is unusual in that it not only develops its own medications but also its own medical devices. The iDose TR, which is inserted into the eye to treat glaucoma for up to 3 years, is the world’s smallest medical device. As a result, Glaukos is also on our list of medical device makers, where it ranks No. 11.
Fast-Growing Tarsus
Fast-growing Tarsus is the maker of Xdemvy, the first and only FDA-approved treatment for inflammatory eye disease Demodex blepharitis. Tarsus came in at No. 4 on the Business Journal’s rankings by headcount, gaining 11% to 110 (Nasdaq: TARS).
“In addition to reaching the millions of patients living with Demodex blepharitis with Xdemvy, we are focused on building a pipeline of first-in-class therapies that address other substantial blind spots in health care,” co-founder and CEO Bobak “Bobby” Azamian told the Business Journal.
He said the company is now developing a treatment for an eye and eyelid inflammation known as ocular rosacea.
“Beyond eye care, we’re also preparing to expand into new areas, including plans to initiate a study focused on the prevention of Lyme disease. Over time, we expect this pipeline to evolve into multiple growth drivers for the company,” Azamian said.
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals has relocated to Spectrum Terrace, where the company’s expanded space will include bigger lab facilities “to fuel continued innovation and future growth.”
AbbVie No. 1 in Headcount
North Chicago-based drug giant AbbVie held onto its No. 1 spot as the largest local drugmaker by total headcount with an estimated nearly 1,700 employees in Irvine. AbbVie is the parent of Allergan, which is world renown for its Botox. AbbVie is also the maker of the blockbuster arthritis and Crohn’s disease medicine Humira (NYSE: ABBV).
Tustin-based Avid Bioservices, a contract manufacturer of complex medicines derived from living organisms, went private in 2024 via a $1.1 billion sale to private equity firms. Avid came in at No. 3 on the Business Journal list with an estimated 354 local employees out of a comany total of about 400.
Avid in February announced the opening of its new Early Phase Center of Excellence, a state-of-the-art, 78,000-square-foot facility in Costa Mesa.
Newport Beach-based beauty treatment company Evolus, maker of wrinkle treatment Jeuveau, kept the fifth place, as its headcount dipped 12% to 107.
Evolus says Jeuveau provides “natural-looking results, exactly where you want them.”
Two companies fell off this year’s list.
BioDuro, which last year reported 72 employees at its Irvine headquarters, divested its operations to Forma Life Sciences and only had a few people at its Irvine office, a spokeswoman said.
Stason Pharmaceuticals Inc., which reported 35 people last year, didn’t respond to repeated requests for information and the Business Journal couldn’t confirm its office location.
Emily Santiago-Molina and Yuika Yoshida contributed to this report.
