John M. Gregory (businessman)

John M. Gregory is a former CEO of King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and resides in Bristol, Tennessee. In addition to having started up King Pharmaceuticals back in 1993, Gregory has started up several other notable business ventures including SJ Strategic Investments (a privately held investment firm) and Leitner Pharmaceuticals. Most recently, Gregory has also made major investment outside of the pharmaceutical industry, such as his investments within the privately held United Coal Company located in southwest Virginia and Adams Golf with U.S. corporate offices in Texas.

King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. acquiring U.S. marketing and distribution rights to Altace

On October 29, 1991, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded the German pharmaceuticals company Hoechst Ag with the publication of U.S. patent US5061722 A Hypotensive agents; e.g. ramipril.[1] Altace is the copyright trade name for ramipril.

During 1994, the U.S. National Right to Life Committee announced an anti-RU-486 boycott, targeting all Hoechst pharmaceutical products including Altace. By September 17, the pro-life organization Pharmacists For Life International joined the NRLC anti-RU-486 boycott "...against the American subsidiary of Hoechst, AG Hoechst-Roussel, Hoechst-Celanese, its generic subsidiary Coply Pharmaceuticals and the agricultural Hoechst subsidiary"[2] while asking U.S. consumers to "...focus on key Hoechst drugs which have the most economic impact rather than taking an across-the-board shotgun approach"[2] and specifically targeting Altace as a boycott list item.[2][3][4]

Hoechst merged with Marion Merrill Dow of Kansas City, Missouri in 1995, forming the Hoechst U.S. pharmaceutical subsidiary Hoechst Marion Roussel (HMR). Altace was bringing in under $90 million in U.S. revenues for HMR and Hoechst had stopped promoting Altace within the United States.,[5] and King Pharmaceuticals President Jefferson "Jeff" Gregory also began negotiations in 1995 with Hoechst to acquire U.S. distribution rights to Altace.[5]

The King Pharmaceuticals wholly owned subsidiary Monarch Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (another brother of John Gregory - Joseph Gregory - was then the president of Monarch Pharmaceuticals) acquired ownership of the U.S. distribution and marketing rights to Altace and other Hoescht products from Hoescht AG subsidiary Hoechst Marion Roussel of Kansas City, Missouri on December 18, 1998, [6] following a January 1999 merger a few weeks later with Rhône-Poulenc, Hoechst assumed the new corporate identity of Aventis).

In 2001, Forbes magazine ranked John Gregory among the 400 richest Americans. The bulk of Gregory's personal fortune was due in large part due to the ability of King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to reintroduce the Hoechst branded prescription drug Altace back into the U.S. market under the King Pharmaceuticals,Inc. subsidiary Monarch Pharmaceuticals brand following the 1998 U.S. marketing and distribution agreement between KingPharmaceuticals/Monarch and Hoechst/HMR.

References

  1. ↑ https://www.google.com/patents/US5061722 Hypotensive agents; e.g. ramipril US 5061722 A.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "3) Pharmacists For Life Joins International Boycott". Life Communications. November, 1994.
  3. ↑ "Abortion Foes To Boycott Drugs (Altace) Made By RU-486 Manufacturer". The Virginia-Pilot. Associated Press. July 8, 1994.
  4. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20150114164336/http://www.ewtn.org/library/PROLIFE/RUBOYCOT.TXT NOW'S THE TIME TO DEFEND OUR BORDERS - A pro-life boycott could keep RU 486 out of the U.S. 1994. Focus on the Family. Retrieved at the Internet Archive.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Faith Healers: The born-again Gregory brothers worked a financial miracle from cast-off drug brands". Forbes. Zina Moukheiber. October 28, 2002.
  6. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20010425235800/http://custservices.com/news.asp?up=8 News Update-Monarch Pharmaceuticals acquired April 25, 2001. Hoechst Marion Roussel. Retrieved at Internet Archive.

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