Actavis Axing More SoCal Jobs
February 12, 2015
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Dublin, Ireland-based Actavis plc filed with the state of California yesterday indicating it will be cutting more jobs. This new Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) follows a similar filing in December 2014.
The January job cuts affected approximately 200 workers. The company has been laying off employees fairly regularly in the last year, with 48 jobs cut in October. It also expected to cut an additional 40 more in April. The company has indicated it will be cutting 1,500 jobs as part of its corporate restructuring.
Activis is domiciled in Ireland, but operates out of headquarters in Parsippany, N.J. In October 2014 the company announced a definitive merger agreement with Chicago-based Durata Therapeutics, Inc. . In September 2014 it acquired Allergan Inc. for $66 billion.
The company acquired Forest Laboratories, Inc. in October as well, and promptly closed a Forest Laboratories facility in St. Louis, Mo., laying off approximately 190 at that site and an additional 94 workers at a pharmaceutical packaging facility in Long Island. Forest’s headquarters in New York are expected to be shuttered mid-2015.
Actavis also announced on Feb. 9 that it has entered into an agreement with Mayne Pharma. Under this deal, Actavis will turn over the U.S. rights to the Doryx brand acne treatment and related assets for about $50 million. Actavis will continue to package and sell the product until May 2, but the actual transaction is expected to close by the end of February.
“Actavis currently licenses and distributes Doryx in the U.S. as part of our legacy Warner Chilcott partnership with Mayne, which is eligible to expire at the end of 2015,” said William Meury, executive vice president Commercial, North American Brands of Actavis in a statement. “By agreeing to return the product to Mayne now, we receive value for the asset and, following a brief transition period, will enable our sales and marketing teams to focus their time and attention on supporting the expanded, industry-leading Dermatology portfolio that will be part of our combined company following the acquisition of Allergan later this year.”
The company also recently announced on Feb. 5 that it will sell the rights to its branded respiratory business in the U.S. and Canada to AstraZeneca PLC for an initial consideration of $600 million and royalties. “This divestiture will permit Actavis to sharpen our strategic focus and sales and marketing activities on our larger, core therapeutic categories in CNS, Women’s Health, Urology, GI, Anti-infectives and Cardiovascular, as well as in Dermatology/Aesthetics and Ophthalmology, which will be added to our global brand portfolio following the completion of the Allergan acquisition later this year,” said Actavis President and CEO Brent Saunders in a statement.
Actavis stock has been on a slow, but fairly steady rise over the last year. It reported a low of $189.97 in February 2014, and a high of $281.75 on Feb. 11, 2015. It’s taken a drop so far today, currently selling at $277.22.
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