Alpharma

King Pharmaceuticals

Type	Private foundation = 1994
Industry	Pharmaceutical company, health care
Headquarters	Bristol, Tennessee, USA
Key people	Brian Markison, CEO Joseph Squicciarino, CFO Eric J. Bruce, CTO
Products	Pharmaceuticals
Revenue	$1.7 billion USD (2009)
Operating income	$236 million USD (2009)
Net income	$92 million USD (2009)
Number of employees	3,381
Website	www.kingpharm.com

Private

King Pharmaceuticals, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pfizer based in Bristol, Tennessee. Before being acquired by Pfizer, it was the world's 39th largest pharmaceutical company. On October 12, 2010, King was acquired by Pfizer for $14.25 per share. King produced a wide range of pharmaceuticals, including Altace for heart attack prevention, Levoxyl for hypothyroidism, Sonata, a sleeping aid, and Skelaxin, a muscle relaxant. King Pharmaceuticals operated manufacturing facilities in Bristol, Tennessee; Rochester, Michigan; St. Louis, Missouri; St. Petersburg, Florida; and Middleton, Wisconsin. They employed approximately 2,700 people including a sales force of over 1,000 individuals.

King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in the State of Tennessee in 1993. According to the King Pharmaceutcals, Inc. Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the wholly owned subsidiaries of King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. are Monarch Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; King Pharmaceuticals Research and Development, Inc.; Meridian Medical Technologies, Inc.; Parkedale Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; King Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc.; and Monarch Pharmaceuticals Ireland Limited.

King Pharmaceuticals was founded in 1993 John M. Gregory, Randal J. Kirk, Joseph "Joe" R. Gregory, Jefferson "Jeff" J. Gregory, and James E. Gregory.In January 1994, King acquired a former King College campus plant in Bristol, Tennessee. The 500,000-square-foot (46,000 m²) facility was purchased for $1.18 million from RSR Pharmaceutical, who had been using it after Beecham merged with SmithKline. King initially manufactured drugs for other pharmaceutical companies, but soon established a strategy of acquiring branded prescription drugs, which have a much higher gross margin than contract manufactured drugs.