Allergan to Relocate Some of Its Operations in County to Texas

Allergan Pharmaceuticals, the Irvine eye-care products subsidiary of SmithKline Beckman, has announced that it will relocate part of its Orange County manufacturing operations to a new facility in Waco, Tex.

The move will eliminate 220 jobs at Allergan’s Santa Ana and Irvine plants over the next 2 1/2 years. Company spokeswoman Nora Norman said an unspecified number of employees would be offered transfers to Texas, while other jobs would be eliminated through attrition and reassignment to other departments.

Allergan employs 2,000 people in Orange County, including 400 workers at the affected plants. The Irvine operation makes contact lens solution and related products. Medical plastics are produced in Santa Ana.

The move to Texas was attributed to high operating costs in Orange County, as well a lack of space to accommodate expansion.

The Waco plant will open in December and should be fully operational in the spring of 1991 with about 320 employees. The transfer of employees and some operations from the Irvine and Santa Ana plants will occur over that period.