Forest Laboratories
 | |
| Subsidiary | |
| Traded as | Formerly NYSE: FRX |
| Industry | Pharmaceutical |
| Founded | 1954 |
| Headquarters |
909 Third Avenue New York City, United States |
Key people | Brent Saunders, CEO |
| Revenue |
 $3.1 billion (2013)[1] |
Number of employees | 5,600 |
| Website | http://www.frx.com |
Forest Laboratories is an American pharmaceutical company headquartered in New York City. The company's research and development spending has grown rapidly in recent years and, as of 2007, approached almost a billion U.S. dollars a year,[2] which put it on the list of the top 100 global corporations in R&D spending.[3] Forest Laboratories is also known for licensing European pharmaceuticals for sale in the United States. The company also has offices in St. Louis, Cincinnati, Jersey City, Oakland, Dublin, Kent and Paris.
Corporate history
In January 2014, Forest agreed to acquire Aptalis Pharma for $2.9 billion in order to gain access to treatments for gastrointestinal ailments and cystic fibrosis.[4]
In February 2014, Actavis announced it would acquire Forest Laboratories for around $25 billion.[5]
In April 2014, Forest announced it would acquire Furiex Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $1 billion in cash.[6][7]
Locations
Both Lexapro and Namenda are produced in bulk at the Forest plant in Dublin, Ireland, with secondary processing, such as bottling and blister-packing, being carried out in the U.S. at plants in New York and St. Louis. Corporate profits end up in Forest Labs' Bermuda "subsidiary", a facility that consists of a secretary in a law office in a country with no corporate tax.[8]
Products
Some of the products Forest Laboratories markets with its partners include:
- AeroBid (flunisolide inhaler) for allergic rhinitis
- Armour Thyroid (thyroid tablets) for hypothyroidism and pituitary TSH suppression
- Bystolic (nebivolol) for hypertension
- Campral (acamprosate calcium) for maintenance of abstinence from alcohol in patients with alcohol dependence
- Celexa (citalopram hydrobromide) for depression (developed by Lundbeck)
- Cervidil (dinoprostone vaginal insert) for the initiation and/or continuation of cervical ripening in certain patients
- Combunox (oxycodone hydrochloride/ibuprofen) for the short-term management of acute moderate-to-severe pain
- Daliresp (roflumilast) for reduction of COPD exacerbations in patients with severe COPD
- Fetzima (levomilnacipran extended release) for depression
- Lexapro (escitalopram oxalate) for depression and generalized anxiety disorder (developed in cooperation with Lundbeck)
- Levothroid (levothyroxine sodium) for hypothyroidism and pituitary TSH suppression
- Linzess (linaclotide) for constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome and chronic idiopathic constipation
- Monurol (fosfomycin tromethamine) for certain urinary tract infections
- Namenda and Namenda XR (memantine hydrochloride) for moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's disease
- Savella (milnacipran hydrochloride) for fibromyalgia
- Sudocrem medicated cream for irritant diaper dermatitis
- Teflaro (ceftaroline fosamil) for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections and community-acquired pneumonia caused by susceptible bacteria
- Tiazac (diltiazem hydrochloride) for hypertension and chronic stable angina pectoris
- Thyrolar (liotrix) for hypothyroidism and pituitary TSH suppression
- Tudorza Pressair (aclidinium bromide inhalation powder) for COPD
- Viibryd (vilazodone hydrochloride) for depression
Controversies
In September 2010, Forest Laboratories, Inc. and Forest Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (a subsidiary of Forest Laboratories) agreed to pay more than US$313 million to resolve allegations of civil and criminal liability relating to felony obstruction of justice and the illegal distribution and promotion of pharmaceuticals, charges to which it pled guilty.[9] One of the pharmaceutical-related charges was a misdemeanor charge of illegally promoting the drugs Celexa and Lexapro for unapproved pediatric uses in treating depression.[10][11] The other drug-related charge was a misdemeanor charge of distributing the unapproved drug Levothroid in violation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).[10][11] Certain of the criminal activities were revealed with the help of whistleblowers, who were slated to receive US$14 million from the federal component of the settlement.[11]
"Dodging taxes"
On 13 May 2010, ABC news and Bloomberg business news reported that the organization "dodges taxes" by moving its profits offshore with the currently legal practice known as transfer pricing. U.S. Senator Carl Levin of Michigan has called transfer pricing "the corporate equivalent to secret offshore accounts of individual tax dodgers".[8]
Pipeline candidates
- Cariprazine
- Dutogliptin
- F2695
Notes
- ↑ "Forest Laboratories, Inc. Reports Fiscal Year Fourth Quarter 2013 Earnings Per Share of $0.17 Including $0.08 Per Share of Acquisition Amortization". Retrieved 2014-02-18.
- ↑ "Forest Laboratories financial statements". Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ↑ "The 1250 Largest Companies Worldwide in R&D Spending". Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ↑ "Forest to acquire Aptalis". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2013-01-08.
- ↑ "Actavis to buy Forest for $25 billion; windfall for investor Icahn". Reuters. 18 Feb 2014. Retrieved 20 Feb 2014.
- ↑ "Forest to acquire Furiex". Reuters. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
- ↑ DEALBOOK. "Forest Labs to Acquire Furiex Pharmaceuticals". New York Times. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
- 1 2 Claiborne, Ron. "U.S. Firms Dodge Billions in Taxes by Moving Profits Overseas". ABC World News. Archived from the original on 2011-02-20. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
- ↑ "Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program, Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2010" (PDF). p. 19. Retrieved 2011-02-07.
- 1 2 Volkmann, Kelsey (2010-09-15). "Forest Pharmaceuticals to plead guilty, pay $313M, Business Courier, Cincinnati". Retrieved 2011-04-10.
- 1 2 3 Noller, Lisa M.; Judith A. Waltz (December 2010). "Whistleblowers Take On Off-Label Marketing". Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News 30 (21): 11.