Ribbon cutting at ASA, where Sigurdur Oli Olafsson, Actavis Group CEO, formally opened the labs. From left to right: Mengke Zhao, Christina Provo Settle, Harold Injety, Terry Yang, Bernard Cantago, Jim Huang, Jose Ruiz-Sanchez, Sigurdur Olafsson, Dale Martin, Laura Jolley, Jane Zhang, Diane Guo, Tomas Velez and Monique Weitz, all of whom have been with the company since the start in Florida in 2003.
Actavis South Atlantic (ASA), a United States division of Actavis, has opened new analytical and R&D laboratories to expand the Company’s research and development efforts for controlled release (CR) and other technically difficult generic pharmaceutical products.
The new analytical labs have been expanded by about 300 sq m and the new R&D labs have been expanded by about 140 sq m. As part of the Sunrise, FL expansion, appropriate office space was also added to support both of the lab expansions.
The CEO of Actavis Group, Sigurdur Oli Olafsson, participated in the celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony.
Recently launched Actavis South Atlantic products in the United States include Bupropion XL and SR, the generic equivalents of GSK’s Wellbutrin XL® and SR® as well as Nifedipine ER, the generic equivalent of Bayer’s Adalat® CC.
Actavis U.S. CEO Doug Boothe said, “Actavis in the United States is focused on our vision and commitment to be on the cutting edge of new technology. The expansion of our South Atlantic R&D facility ensures that we remain well-positioned to develop and manufacture ER (extended release) and CR (continuous release) drugs.”
Actavis is one of the leading companies in the U.S. market in the development of CR products, with more than EUR 50 million (USD 74 million) expected to be invested in CR development in 2008 and 200 employees dedicated in the development of CR products. Actavis has 13 pending ANDAs for CR products with the FDA.
About CR drugs
CR versions of drugs expand the therapeutic application of products and are highly sought after by branded pharmaceutical companies because of their ability to extend product life cycles. Actavis South Atlantic applies its proprietary technologies to selected high value branded pharmaceuticals and duplicates the release characteristics of the originator drugs in order to bring to market generic versions that can be substituted for these branded products.