Actavis dons the Allergan monicker after $70B buyout

CEO Brent Saunders

Three months after closing its blockbuster buyout of drugmaker Allergan ($AGN), Actavis is from now on doing business under its acquisition's name, elbowing its way into Big Pharma after years of dealmaking. The new Allergan is among the world's 10 biggest drug companies, with a payroll topping 30,000 and expected annual revenue of around $23 billion. CEO Brent Saunders, a Wall Street darling, plans to press forward under a model he calls "growth pharma," eschewing traditional drug discovery in favor of building a pipeline with his company's sizable checkbook. Instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year on early-stage lab experiments with long odds of success, Saunders' Allergan will buy into drug candidates after they've already shown some promise, he has said, striking deals with biotechs or universities to bring Phase II assets. More from FiercePharma