Allergan has decided not to pursue a $200-million expansion, first announced in 2016, at its manufacturing plant in Waco, Texas. Allergan had announced in 2016 plans to expand the Waco facility, which produces the company’s eye-care products, including Restasis (cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion), a drug to treat dry eye, and one of the company’s top-selling drugs with 2017 global sales of $1.47 billion. Allergan faces generic competition for the drug due to expected loss of exclusivity in 2018 for Restasis. As a result, the company has shifted its priority from expanding the Waco site to investing to improve efficiencies across all of the company’s global manufacturing sites, including Waco.

The company says as part of its commitment to operational excellence, it is focused on improving efficiencies at its global manufacturing sites, including Waco. This commitment, coupled with the expected loss of exclusivity for Restasis in 2018, has shifted its priority from expanding the Waco site to investing in its existing operations. The investments, totaling more than $180 million between 2015 and 2018, have further enhanced Allergan’s pharmaceutical development and production facilities.

Allergan says it remains committed to its eye-care business and operations in Waco. The company continues to depend on the site for both its currently commercialized eye-care products and those that result from Allergan’s pipeline of future eye-care treatments. The company is currently hiring for approximately 45 open positions across all areas of Allergan’s pharmaceutical development and production facility in Waco, including manufacturing, packaging, engineering, and quality.

Source: Allergan