Barr Pharmaceuticals

Barr Pharmaceuticals was a global specialty and generic drug manufacturer with operations in 30 countries.

Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Industry	Pharmaceutical industry
Founded	1970; 55 years ago (1970)
Defunct	December 23, 2008; 16 years ago (2008-12-23)
Fate	Acquired by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
Headquarters	Montvale, New Jersey
Key people	Bruce L. Downey, Chairman & CEO William T. McKee, CFO
Products	Generic drugs
Revenue	$2.500 billion (2007)
Net income	$0.128 billion (2007)
Total assets	$4.761 billion (2007)
Total equity	$1.866 billion (2007)
Number of employees	8,900 (2007)
Footnotes / references [1]

Approximately 75% of the company's revenues were from the sale of generic drugs, including 18% of sales which were from the sale of oral contraceptive pills.^[1]

It was acquired by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in 2008 ^[2] for an estimated $7.46 billion ($10.9 billion in 2024).^[3]

History

Barr Laboratories Inc. was founded in New York in 1970 by Edwin A. Cohen.^[4]

Starting in 1991 Barr Laboratories was involved in a scandal stemming from their violation of GMP regulations concerning handling of out-of-specification (OOS) test results.^[5] In 1993 Barr Labs lost a lawsuit stemming from these findings, resulting in new industry interpretations of FDA regulations regarding out of specification test results.^[6]

In 1993, Bruce L. Downey joined the company as its president and in 1994, he became chairman and chief executive officer of the company.^[7]

In 1993, the company settled a patent infringement case and began distributing a generic version of tamoxifen citrate, a treatment for breast cancer.^[8]

In 1995, the company received approval to manufacture and sell a generic version of zidovudine (AZT), a treatment for AIDS.^[9]

In 1996, the company became the first to receive approval from the Food and Drug Administration to market generic Warfarin, which was previously only sold by DuPont.^[10]

In 2001, the company acquired Duramed Pharmaceuticals for $589 million in stock.^[11]

In August 2001, after a 5-year legal battle with Eli Lilly and Company, the company began selling a generic version of Prozac.^[12]

In 2003, the company acquired Endeavor Pharmaceuticals for $35 million.^[13]

In 2004, the company acquired Women's Capital, maker of Plan B emergency contraceptives.^[14]

In October 2006, the company acquired Pliva.^[15]

On December 23, 2008, the company was acquired by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and became part of Teva Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (TAPI).^[2]