Chattem has begun managing two new acquisitions by its parent company as the Chattanooga business integrates antacid Zantac and laxative Dulcolax into its portfolio and marks highs in jobs and sales.
Chattem Chief Executive Robert Long said Tuesday the additions of Zantac and Dulcolax to its stable are in addition to the planned spring launch of allergy medicine Xyzal from a prescription drug to an over-the-counter product.
"That means more local growth," Long said.
The consumer health care company has grown to about 700 employees in Chattanooga and boosted its sales to more than $1 billion. Both figures are highs for the 138-year-old business that also sells Allegra, Gold Bond, Icy Hot and other medications.
Last month, Chattem began managing in the U.S. the supply and distribution of Zantac and Dulcolax, which French parent Sanofi acquired in a product swap with Germany-based Boehringer Ingelheim. Long said the two brands along with Xyzal Allergy 24HR will help give Chattem "a very nice year of growth" in 2017.
"Adding these three businesses is exciting," he said.
Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim confirmed last month the closing of a deal that consists of an exchange of Sanofi's animal health business involving Merial and Boehringer Ingelheim's consumer health care line, which included Zantac and Dulcolax.
Dr. Olivier Brandicourt, Paris-based Sanofi's chief executive, said the closing of the business swap helps his company build "a strong and innovative" consumer health care business globally.
"Indeed this market serves the growing expectations of consumers to be more in control of their own health and wellness," he said in a statement.
The asset swap involved Boehringer Ingelheim's acquisition of Sanofi's $13.5 billion animal care subsidiary. Sanofi obtained the Germany company's consumer health care business unit, valued at nearly $8 billion, plus $5.5 billion in cash, according to Reuters.
Last week, Sanofi announced that Chattem, already with two key prescriptions to over-the-counter product switches, will roll out a third with allergy medicine Xyzal. The shift was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Sanofi said Xyzal is an oral antihistamine with a proven 24-hour effect. Two formulations of Xyzal are now approved for over the counter use - 5 mg tablets for ages 6 years and older, as well as 0.5 mg/ml oral solution for ages 2 years and older, the company said.
Heather Levis Guzzi, a Sanofi U.S. spokeswoman, said the new Xyzal products will be packaged by Chattem in Chattanooga. Production of Xyzal will be sourced to a third party, she said.
Marketing and other work related to the rollout of the medicine will be done in Chattanooga, Guzzi said.
In 2011, Chattem took the blockbuster allergy medicine Allegra from a prescription to an over-the-counter product. About two years later, Chattem did the same for nasal allergy spray Nasacort.
Nationwide, Long said Chattem employs about 775 people.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.