headquarters toronto ontario canada key people dr. bernard sherman chairman jack m. kay vice chair 1 dr. jeremy desai ceo and president products generic pharmaceuticals revenue cad 2 billion per year in world wide sales 2 number of employees 10 000 in research development manufacturing information technology and distribution facilities world wide 2 website www.apotex.com apotex is a canadian pharmaceutical corporation . founded in 1974 by dr. bernard sherman the company is the largest producer of generic drugs in canada with sales exceeding 2 billion cad a year . 3 the company produces more than 300 generic pharmaceuticals in approximately 4 000 dosages and has 500 molecules under development . apotex exports products to over 115 countries around the globe . 3 there are more prescriptions filled with apotex products in canada than that of any other pharmaceutical company close to 90 million per year . apotex manufactures and distributes generic medications for a range of diseases and health conditions that include cancer diabetes high cholesterol glaucoma infections and blood pressure . apotex is a member of the canadian generic pharmaceutical association cgpa 4 the generic pharmaceutical association gpha 5 an associate member of the canadian animal health institute cahi 6 the canadian association for pharmacy distribution management capdm 7 as well as the greater toronto area s partners in project green . 8 contents 1 history 1.1 launch of first generic plavix pill 1.2 launch of biosimilar filgrastim 2 structure 3 society and culture 3.1 international access to medicine 3.2 work with canada s access to medicines regime camr 3.3 philanthropy in canada 3.4 creation of the apotex foundation 3.5 expanding access to generic pharmaceuticals 3.6 working with regulator to solve audit findings 4 litigation 5 references 6 external links history edit apotex began with limited staff in a 5 000 square foot warehouse . when dr. bernard sherman started apotex at first he was losing so much money that his wife urged him to close his business before he lost everything . in 1980 apotex was first to market a generic version of propranolol the blood pressure drug which boosted apotex s company profile . warehouse where apotex first began in 1974 . by the mid 90s apotex was earning 700 million in annual sales which allowed it to control approximately 40 per cent of the canadian generic drug market . 9 as an important development step in 2003 apotex became the first to market a generic version of paxil the antidepressant originally patented by glaxosmithkline . apotex launched their generic version of paxil at risk meaning before patent litigation between apotex and glaxosmithkline over paxil had concluded . 10 in 2007 apotex acquired belgium generic drug maker topgen esv from zambon group spa of italy as a way for apotex to expand its european footprint . 11 that same year apotex acquired lareq pharma sl of spain from industria quimica y farmaceutica to extend the company s presence in western europe . 12 in 2010 apotex launched a generic version of pfizer inc. s cholesterol lowering lipitor drug in canada after four years of patent litigation with pfizer . apotex s generic version was launched under the name apo atorvastatin . 13 this saved provincial health programs over 800 million per year . in 2010 apotex was listed in the eighth position in a report published by fiercepharma listing the top u.s. generic companies based on sales from january 2009 to december 2009 . 14 in 2012 apotex launched a generic version of crestor the cardiovascular drug originally patented and manufactured by astrazeneca . apotex s generic version of crestor is called apo rosuvastatin . 15 apotex warehouse in etobicoke canada . launch of first generic plavix pill edit in 2006 sanofi aventis sa and bristol myers squibb co. the producers and patent owners of plavix the blood thinner drug settled a patent lawsuit with apotex . 16 17 in the settlement apotex agreed not to sell a generic version of plavix until september 2011 in exchange for an unspecified amount of money . 16 the settlement contained a clause that allowed apotex to bring to market a generic version of plavix in the situation where the agreement between apotex and bristol myers was not upheld by the u.s. federal trade commission . in this situation apotex would be able to bring to market a generic version of plavix even before the expiration of sanofi aventis sa and bristol myers squibb s patent on the drug . 16 17 on july 28 2006 the attorney general rejected the agreement between apotex and sanofi aventis sa and bristol myers squibb co. on august 8 2006 apotex launched their generic version of plavix and during the five days that the company was able to produce the drug apotex flooded the market with many months supply of the generic drug . 16 17 launch of biosimilar filgrastim edit in 2013 apotex began selling a biosimilar version of amgen s neulasta in europe a blockbuster drug used by cancer patients in chemotherapy as a way to boost white blood count . apotex s version is known as grastofil filgrastim and is licensed for sale in europe by stada arzneimittel . 18 in february 2015 the fda accepted apotex s application of its filing of grastofil in the united states . 19 structure edit the company has three main divisions research and development ; which includes biosimilars manufacturing sales and marketing . the biotechnology division is divided into three subsidiaries . apotex owned 61 % of cangene corp. a winnipeg based biopharmaceutical company according to cangene s 2007 annual report . cangene s business focuses are hyperimmunes contract manufacturing biopharmaceuticals and biodefense against infectious diseases such as smallpox hepatitis b and anthrax . its products include winrho sdf . in february 2014 emergent biosolutions an american company based in rockville maryland acquired cangene corporation . 20 in 1991 apotex opened apotex fermentation in winnipeg to develop fermentation based technologies for the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients apis and to manufacture apis for eventual sale as final dosage forms in canada and internationally . the factory employs 150 people . in january 2004 apopharma was founded . it is the subsidiary responsible for research and development of new chemical entities . 3 bernard barry sherman is the chairman and jack m. kay is vice chair . 1 dr. jeremy desai is ceo and president . society and culture edit international access to medicine edit over the years apotex has provided medicines for international humanitarian support efforts . since 2012 apotex has worked in conjunction with the teasdale corti foundation to provide medicine for st. mary s hospital lacor also known as lacor hospital in uganda . apotex continued to provide medicines for lacor hospital in 2013 and in total has donated approximately 1.2 million in medicines to lacor hospital . technicians working in an apotex lab . in september 2014 in response to the spread of the chikungunya virus in haiti apotex worked with the humanitarian organization direct relief to donate more than 2.2 million in medical aid to the country . 21 in 2009 apotex began providing medicines to the mully children s family foundation an organization located outside of nairobi kenya that is dedicated to rescuing and supporting orphaned and homeless children . 22 thus far apotex has provided three shipments of medications to the foundation . work with canada s access to medicines regime camr edit in 2004 a legislation was enacted under canada s pledge to africa act called canada s access to medicines regime camr which pledged to improve access to drugs to developing countries that lack the resources to manufacture the medications or purchase them at cost . canada s access to medicines regime allowed for patents on medications to be overridden through a compulsory licensing so that generic drug manufacturers could supply these drugs to developing countries at lower prices . 23 beginning in 2005 apotex worked on developing an hiv treatment involving three drugs azt 3tc and navirapin which could be sent to countries in need under camr . 24 in september 2008 after four years of fighting a morass of red tape and petty politics apotex shipped seven million doses of apo triavir a generic aids medication to rwanda . the shipment provided enough medication to treat 21 000 rwandans for a full year . 23 philanthropy in canada edit as of 2008 apotex had given more than 21 million to pharmacy schools across canada 25 and in 2008 apotex donated 1.5 million to the university of saskatchewan s college of pharmacy which was the largest donation given to the college of pharmacy . 25 on august 22 2013 apotex announced that it would donate 10 million toward the construction of the new humber river hospital hrh in toronto canada . apotex s donation would go towards the building of humber river hospital s emergency department . 26 creation of the apotex foundation edit apotex founded the apotex foundation a privately held charitable organization which has donated over 50 million in medicines over the last 10 years . critical medicines have been shipped to every disaster zone around the globe to provide assistance to humans in need . apotex was also the only canadian company to develop and manufacture a combination drug for aids patients in rwanda . expanding access to generic pharmaceuticals edit apotex is known for actively fighting patent protections on brand name drugs primarily through litigation means . a new york times cover piece on apotex s founder bernard sherman described sherman s work to get new generic drugs to market as something of a crusade . the article goes on to explain that while some generic drug manufacturers cut deals with brand name manufacturers over drug patents bernard sherman and apotex are against such deal making . 10 in a 2008 article on pharmaceutical patent cases the globe and mail cited apotex as being prepared to wage expensive courtroom battles with the help of high priced talent from such firms as goodmans llp . 27 in a 2007 national post article apotex revealed that it spent roughly 60 million a year on legal fees both in defense of the company and working toward expanding the number of generics on the market . 28 working with regulator to solve audit findings edit apotex received a warning letter from the u.s. food and drug administration fda regarding the etobicoke plant on june 25 2009 for good manufacturing practice gmp violations . 29 it also received a warning letter citing similar gmp violations in the signet plant on march 29 2010 . 30 fda issued an import ban on all drugs manufactured at these two plants and prevented the company from seeking new marketing authorizations in the u.s on august 28 2009 . 30 the import ban was subsequently lifted on may 6 2011 . 31 on february 29 2012 apotex filed a claim to the international centre for settlement of investment disputes seeking arbitration with the u.s.a. in the filing apotex cited unfair treatment by fda which constituted a violation of the north american free trade agreement nafta . apotex further claimed that the action of fda decimated its business . 32 on august 26 2014 nafta tribunal rejected apotex s claim . 33 fda inspected the same plants again in 2013 and issued warning letters for more problems . 34 in april 2014 fda banned a manufacturing plant owned by apotex in bangalore india . in the warning letter fda indicated that the plant routinely deleted failed test results and replaced with retest results that passed . fda found that the violations are systemic and were dated back for many years having the same issues noted in past inspections since 2006 . 34 litigation edit on 17 may 2013 a group of pregnant canadian women filed a class action lawsuit against apotex after it was discovered that the company s recalled