Calling All Scientists: Allergan Plans Big Expansion

Allergan Inc., the Irvine-based specialty pharmaceutical and eye products firm, said it will spend $70 million over the next five years to expand its office and research facilities and add 300 new scientists and support personnel to its staff.

The ambitious expansion plan was developed to help the company cope with a boom in demand for its products.

Toxicologists, chemists and microbiologists will be hired to develop new eye and skin care products and cancer drugs, Allergan said. The 49-year-old company now has nearly 6,000 employees worldwide.

It will also add 226,000 square feet of office space, including two new research facilities, over the next five years at its 28-acre headquarters in Irvine.

The company’s first-quarter revenue hit $311.3 million, a 16% increase over the same period a year earlier. Eye care pharmaceutical sales increased 28% in the three-month period, while sales of Botox, used to treat cerebral palsy and other movement disorders and by some plastic surgeons to smooth wrinkles, surged 38%.

Allergan reported a $35 million profit for its fiscal 2000 first quarter ended March 26, equal to 51 cents a share. For the same period last year, the company lost $122.2 million, or $1.87 a share.

Last year, Allergan undertook a major restructuring to reduce costs and streamline operations. Among other things, the firm decided to shutter half of its manufacturing plants.

Allergan’s stock closed Wednesday at $89.81, up 13 cents a share in New York Stock Exchange trading.