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Dr. Allen Chao retired as Watson’s President and Chief Executive Officer, remaining active with the company as its Chairman of the Board. Paul Bisaro was named as Dr. Chao’s successor. Paul previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Paul assumes the helm of a company approaching $2.5 billion in revenues and the challenge of taking Watson to its next level of achievement.
Watson acquires Andrx Corporation, a Fort Lauderdale, FL - based pharmaceutical company, to become the third largest specialty pharmaceutical company in the United States based on total prescriptions dispensed. The acquisition expands Watson\'s sustained release technology platform and adds a number of high-barrier-to-entry products to its pipeline. Additionally, the acquisition includes Andrx\'s Anda Distribution business and state-of-the-art distribution centers in Florida and Ohio. These assets will allow for broadening Watson\'s product portfolio & providing future growth opportunities.
Watson adds 1,700 employees
Watson acquires a state-of-the-art Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients \(API\) manufacturing facility in Mumbai, India. The facility, built to meet Global cGMP standards, also houses an R&D facility that develops and manufacturers generic products. The facility is known for its development and manufacture of specialty and commodity API\'s and related intermediaries, as well as an expertise in finished dosage form formulation development and manufacturing.
Watson adds 380 employees
In a first, measured step offshore, a solid dose manufacturing facility is acquired in Goa, India to produce higher volume solid dosage form products. Approximately two years old, the 94,000-square-foot facility is located in an industrial area close to several other domestic and multi-national pharmaceutical companies.
Watson adds 30 employees
A new 272,000-square-foot distribution operations facility opens in Gurnee, Illinois, nearly doubling Watson\'s capacity to meet its customers\' growing demand for generic and brand pharmaceutical products. More than 16,000 pallets of Watson product can be stored at the facility.
Watson launches a palliative treatment for advanced prostate cancer. The product remains true to the Company\'s vision of improving the health and quality of people\'s lives, as well as enhancing Watson\'s Urology products.
Acquires numerous assets as well as the long-tenured pharmaceutical technology team from Pfizer\'s Mt. Prospect, Illinois-based operation.
Watson announces the formal separation of operations into two business unit structures, Watson Brands and Watson Generics, after a strategic refocusing of its business strategy in June.
Watson adds 23 employees
Announces acquisition of Malmö, Sweden-based Amarin Development AB \(ADAB\), the wholly-owned drug development subsidiary of Amarin Corporation plc., specializing in patented, oral controlled-release drug delivery technologies.
Watson adds 53 employees
Receives FDA approval for OXYTROL®, the first and only transdermal therapy to treat overactive bladder \(OAB\) with symptoms of urge urinary incontinence, urgency and frequency. As Watson\'s first product nurtured from concept through commercialization, OXYTROL further strengthens our position as a leading generic and specialty brand pharmaceutical company.
Watson expands its oral contraceptive portfolio with a supply agreement to launch three brand oral contraceptive equivalents, Necon® 7/7/7, MonoNessa® and TriNessa® products. This agreement is another example of "out-of-the-box" thinking for a generic pharmaceuticals company.
Achieves $1 billion in revenue.
Acquires Makoff R&D Laboratories, Inc., a developer, licensor and marketer of pharmaceutical products and medical foods related to the management of kidney disease. Headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, the acquisition further strengthens Watson\'s presence in the nephrology \(kidney disease\) market.
Watson adds 3 employees
Acquires Schein Pharmaceutical, Inc., the Florham Park, New Jersey-based pharmaceutical firm. Focusing on the management of iron deficiency and anemia in the nephrology therapeutic area, the company also develops and manufactures a broad line of generic products. Acquisition nearly doubles the current size of the Watson organization, providing manufacturing locations on the East Coast and Puerto Rico as well as a state-of-the-art distribution center in New York.
Watson adds 1,269 employees
Acquires Salt Lake City, Utah-based TheraTech, Inc., a research and development company specializing in the design and development of improved drug delivery systems for generic and proprietary pharmaceuticals.
Watson adds 266 employees
Acquires Nicobrand, a manufacturer of nicotine active pharmaceutical ingredients \(API\), located in Coleraine, Northern Ireland. Nicobrand\'s team has perfected the extraction of nicotine from waste tobacco to manufacture pharmaceutical grade nicotine, along with other components, as API for smoking cessation products. Nicobrand is Watson’s first company-owned API manufacturer.
Watson adds 27 employees
Announces the acquisition of The Rugby Group, the Norcross, Georgia-based generic subsidiary of Hoechst Marion Roussel, Inc. In addition to numerous generic products, applications for new generic products, and sales and marketing capabilities for U.S. generics and over-the-counter Rugby products, Watson gains Rugby’s product development group, Chelsea Laboratories, Inc., in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Watson adds 252 \(Rugby\) and 59 \(Chelsea\) employees
Watson common stock moves to the New York Stock Exchange \(NYSE\), trading under the ticker symbol WPI. On the trading floor with Allen Chao, Ph.D., are Watson Board Members Michael Fedida and Michel Feldman \(background\) and NYSE President and COO William Johnston \(right\).
Acquires Royce Laboratories, Inc., the Miami, Florida-based pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets solid dosage forms of generic prescription products.
Watson adds 178 employees
Acquires Oclassen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the San Rafael, California-based pharmaceutical company specializing in prescription products for the treatment and prevention of skin disease. This acquisition brings five product lines and a seasoned sales team, providing entry into the specialty dermatologic therapeutic area.
Ground-breaking begins for first Asia-based operation, in Changzhou, China. Following the construction of the manufacturing plant, sales offices were established in Shanghai.
Watson adds 65 employees
Acquires the Sales and Marketing division of CoCensys, Inc., an Irvine, California-based pharmaceutical company. The acquisition brings new products and co-promotion agreements, plus a sales and marketing team specializing in neuropsychiatric disorders and diseases of the central nervous system \(CNS\).
Watson adds 66 employees
Merges with Circa Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Copiague, New York-based developer and manufacturer of generic and proprietary pharmaceuticals. The Long Island team successfully developed and received approval in 1999 for Nicotine Polacrilex Gum, 2 mg and 4 mg, the first generic FDA-approved anti-smoking gum product in the marketplace. Acquisition included 50% ownership of Somerset Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Watson adds 153 employees
Announces initial public offering \(IPO\) of shares of common stock at $12.00/share; $6.00/share \(post-split\). The successful IPO puts Watson on Nasdaq, ticker symbol: WATS.
Ground-breaking begins for Corona-based Corporate Headquarters. Commemorating the event are \(l-r\) Allen Chao, Ph.D., co-founder; Hsi-Hsiung Chao \(father of Allen and brother, Richard, and Watson\'s first Chairman\); David Hsia, Ph.D., co-founder; and Richard Chao \(brother to Allen, son of Hsi-Hsiung\).
Acquires Zetachron, Inc., a State College, Pennsylvania-based drug delivery research and development company. Gains encapsulation and injection-molding delivery capabilities, diversifying into generic pharmaceuticals and drug delivery systems \(DDS\) development.
Watson adds 33 employees
Receives first product approvals: Indomethacin Capsules in October; Furosemide Tablets in November. Less than two years later, the first internally developed generic oral contraceptive is approved. Necon® 1/35 \(as it is known today\) is the first generic bioequivalent oral contraceptive product ever approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration \(FDA\).
Operations move to Southern California into an initial 25,000 square-foot leased facility in Corona; the development and manufacturing of generic pharmaceuticals begins.
Watson adds 26 employees
Establishes an initial product development and analytical laboratory with six employees \(including both founders\) into leased space in Libertyville, Illinois. Located at 1585 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Unit #2, the retail complex storefront still exists, though today it is subdivided into a drapery company and an educational resources organization.
Watson adds four employees
With funding from friends and family, colleagues Allen Chao, Ph.D. and David Hsia, Ph.D., begin a small drug development enterprise. In tribute to his mother, whose maiden name was Hwa, Dr. Chao names the new pharmaceutical company after her. With a small concession to the English language, "Hwa\'s son" becomes Watson.
Watson starts with two employees