Kinerase

Written by: Ellen R. Delisio

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., the manufacturer of the Kinerase product line, is a global research, development and manufacturing company based in Costa Mesa, California. Valeant formerly was known as ICN Pharmaceuticals. Valeant has 375 employees in the U.S. and 4,437 world wide, including about 1,000 sales representatives around the world.

Besides the U.S., the company has manufacturing centers in seven countries: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Mexico, Poland and Switzerland. The company also has more than 30 commercial offices.

Valeant focuses on researching and creating pharmaceutical products for the dermatology, infectious disease and neurology fields. The company is able to develop new compounds, test them and then produce products that it can market internationally. The majority of products in the Kinerase line are fairly new. Valeant announced in October 2004 that it was releasing Kinerase Gentle Daily Cleanser and Kinerase C6 Peptide Intensive Treatment. Kinerase Intensive Eye Cream and Kinerase with SPF 15 came on the market earlier in 2004.

Besides Kinerase, Valeant has two other dermatology product lines: Dermatix, Efudex/Efudix and Oxsoralen-Ultra.

Valeant also is committed to producing effective infectious disease medications. Valeant currently markets two infectious disease products, Ancotil/Ancobon (Flucytosine) and Virazole (ribavirin for inhalation).

The company has a total of 575 branded products and sales in more than 100 markets. The majority of company sales (44 percent) are in Europe. North America and Latin and South America represent the next busiest markets, with 23 percent of sales in each of those regions. The remaining 10 percent of sales are spread out among Africa, Australia and Asia.

In March of this year, Valeant acquired Xcel Pharmaceuticals, which had been a privately held company. Xcel focused on producing neurology products in the United States. The sale was valued at about $280 million, plus expenses.

The acquisition of Xcel expanded Valeant's business in the U.S. and provided the company's neurology franchise with a sales force with highly specialized skills.