Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. - Introduction

Introduction

2 Quaker Road
Pomona, New York 10970 U.S.A.
Telephone: (845) 362-1100
Toll Free: (800) 227-7522
Fax: (914) 362-2774
Web site: http://www.barrlabs.com

Public Company
Incorporated: 1970 as Barr Laboratories, Inc.
Employees: 1,400
Sales: $902.9 million (2004)
Stock Exchanges: New York
Ticker Symbol: BRL
NAIC: 32541 Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing; 325411 Medicinal and Botanical Manufacturing; 325412 Pharmaceutical Preparation Manufacturing

A fast-growing generic drug company, Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc., develops, manufactures, and markets generic and proprietary pharmaceuticals. The heart of the company and its original focus was on the generic side, a fast-growing segment of the general pharmaceutical industry in which Barr was one of the early pioneers. The company earned notoriety during the late 1980s, when its founder testified before a congressional committee about bribes between generic drug producers and U.S. Food & Drug Administration officials. Barr began to realize phenomenal financial growth during the 1990s, when the U.S. generic pharmaceutical industry grew from a $4-billion-a-year business to an $11-billion-a-year business. By targeting drugs it considered to be covered by weak patents, Barr scored major successes, such as the right to distribute the cancer drug tamoxifen citrate, which accounted for roughly 75 percent of the company's sales during most of the 1990s. During the late 1990s the company's product line was focused on several therapeutic categories, including anti-infectives, cardiovascular agents, hormonal agents, analgesics, oncology, and psychotherapeutic products. At manufacturing facilities in New York, New Jersey, and Virginia, Barr produced more than 60 drug products, including proprietary pharmaceuticals, which the company began manufacturing in 1998.