Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CEO Looks to Cut Costs, May Close Some Manufacturing Plants

Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (WPI) will become the third-biggest generic drug company worldwide as it changes its name to Actavis and seeks to diversify by using brand-name products to fuel growth.

The name change was announced yesterday with the close of Parsippany, New Jersey-based Watson’s 4.25 billion euro ($5.51 billion) purchase of Actavis Group hf. It moves Watson from fifth biggest to the top maker of copycat drugs by sales after Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA), based in Petach Tikva, Israel, and Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis AG’s Sandoz unit.

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