Pharmaceuticals firm to double jobs, triple space

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Pharmaceuticals firm to double jobs, triple space

By Ron DaParmaTRIBUNE-REVIEWFriday, December 28, 2007

These are different strengths and dosage forms of Ribasphere, an antiviral drug from Three Rivers Pharmaceuticals. Three Rivers Pharmaceuticals Inc. is in accelerated expansion mode because of a planned $91 million acquisition of the rights to a hepatitis C drug that it will market and distribute. The 7-year-old North Hills-based pharmaceutical development company said the deal announced last week to buy Valeant Pharmaceuticals International's rights to Infergen, a brand name interferon drug, in the United States and Canada, is prompting a search for new headquarters and warehouse facilities. Three Rivers is looking to triple its 15,000-square-foot space at the Cranberry Commerce Park in County. Employment will double to more than 100, with about half of the workers based in this region.

"This really positions our company very well for growth," said Three Rivers Pharmaceuticals CEO Kerrish. "We hope to bring on the bulk of the sales force from Valeant, and our sales force will grow from about 15 to about 40."

The company is looking for as much as 60,000 square feet of office and warehouse space, most likely in or northern Allegheny counties, said Kerrish and Bill s of Hanna Commercial, the real estate company hired to assist in the search. Three Rivers is a privately held company that came into being in 2000 as a spin-off of Fisher Scientific Inc.'s specialized pharmacy services unit. Kerrish said sales, which stood at about $25 million in 2006, should increase to more than $100 million after it completes the deal with Valeant in 2008. Infergen will continue to be made in California by Amgen, its original developer, but Three Rivers Pharmaceuticals "will do everything else" in this region, he said. "The infrastructure to support this acquisition has to grow as well. That's in all areas, including accounting, operations, management, marketing, quality control and drug safety." Acquiring the rights to Infergen represents "a perfect fit" for Three Rivers' own Ribasphere drug, the generic form of Ribavirin, which is used in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C viral infections, Kerrish said. The company's sales force can market the drugs together to doctors, specialty pharmacies and wholesale distributors that are its primary customers. "It is good to work with a group that is well versed in the industry and knows the hepatitis C market," said Greg Vaughn, executive vice president with Axium Healthcare Pharmacy Inc., a specialty pharmacy in Lake , Fla., that is Three Rivers customer. The potential market for these products is large in the United States, according to Three Rivers Pharmaceuticals. It noted in a news release last week that the Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention estimates that 3.9 million Americans have been infected with the hepatitis C virus, which is the leading cause of liver transplants. The virus causes an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 deaths annually. "A person with hepatitis C at the minimum has to do two things. They have to inject interferon, and they have to take Ribavirin," Kerrish said. "There are only two other players in ... the hepatitis market, Roche (Pharmaceuticals) and Schering-Plough, so we are in with some very big players right now." Kerrish said he hopes to conclude the search for new space quickly, and hopes to have a relocation completed within six to nine months. "We will probably stay in the Marshall-Cranberry area," he said. Three Rivers will pay Valeant $70.8 million in cash at closing of the rights to the drug and up to $20.5 million in two payments during the following 18 months. Three Rivers will acquire Valeant's remaining Infergen inventory. The acquisition was financed with a loan from National City Bank, Kerrish said.

Ron DaParma can be reached at rdaparma@... or 412-320-7907.

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