pharmaceuticals founded 1989 founder randy w. hamilton and lorin k johnson phd headquarters raleigh north carolina united states key people carolyn j. logan ceo adam c. derbyshire cfo j. michael pearson ceo of valeant pharmaceuticals parent valeant pharmaceuticals website http www.salix.com salix pharmaceuticals inc. is a specialist american pharmaceutical company . as of march 2015 it was the largest independent gastrointestinal specialty pharmaceutical company in the world . the company develops prescription drugs and medical devices that prevent and treat various gastrointestinal disorders . 1 it is listed in the russell 2000 index . salix is listed as having the most revenue per employee at 1 400 846 by bizjournals.com . contents 1 history 2 products 2.1 approved drugs 2.2 in development 3 references 4 external links history edit salix pharmaceuticals was founded in 1989 in sunnyvale ca . from 1992 2001 the company was headquartered in palo alto ca . since 2001 the company has been headquartered in raleigh north carolina with business development and intellectual property functions in palo alto ca . the founding products balsalazide disodium and rifaximin were in licensed from two european pharmaceutical companies for development and commercialization in the usa . balsalazide disodium was licensed from biorex laboratories ltd. london in 1990 was approved by fda in 2000 and launched under the tradename colazal by salix for the treatment of mild to moderate active ulcerative colitis . before going generic in 2007 colazal reached peak sales of 120m . rifaximin was licensed from alfa wassermann spa of bologna italy in 1996 and approved by fda for the treatment of travelers diarrhea in 2004 and hepatic encephalopathy in 2010 . rifaximin is sold by salix as xifaxan and generated 2014 sales of 650m . in addition to the two founding products salix acquired products from dr. falk pharma gmbh apriso uceris foam norgine moviprep progenics relistor willmington pharma metozolv . salix acquired crofelemer from napo pharmaceuticals completed the phase iii development and gained approval in 2013 . crofelemer launched as fulyzaq is approved for the treatment of secretory diarrhea in hiv patients . in 2003 the company survived a hostile takeover bid from canadian pharmaceutical company axcan pharma inc now named aptalis . 2 in 2004 salix acquired inkine pharmaceutical company inc and its product osmoprep for 190m . in 2011 salix acquired oceana therapeutics and its products deflux and solesta for 300m . in 2013 salix acquired santarus and its products uceris oral zegerid glumetza cycloset and ruconest for 2.6 b. total sales of salix products in 2014 were 1.1 billion . in february 2015 valeant pharmaceuticals announced it would acquire salix for 15.6 billion creating the u.s. leader in gastrointestinal drugs . the deal was completed on april 1 2015 . 3 products edit approved drugs edit products marketed by salix pharmaceuticals include rifaximin a rifamycin derived antibiotic . in development edit the company is currently developing metoclopramide a dopamine antagonist in the form of an orally disintegrating tablet odt . on october 20 2010 salix pharmaceuticals signed a strategic global agreement with photocure for lumacan . lumacan is a photodynamic colorectal diagnostic intended to significantly improve the detection of precancerous and cancerous lesions in the colon through fluorescence diagnosis . in addition to the development of lumacan for colorectal cancer . salix has the exclusive right to explore and develop products for additional indications involving the diagnosis of gastrointestinal dysplasia and cancer 4 references edit company overview of salix pharmaceuticals ltd . retrieved 2012 05 03 . salix pharmaceuticals board unanimously recommends rejection of axcan s revised offer . business wire may 27 2003 . http www.genengnews.com gen news highlights valeant to acquire salix for 14 5b 81250950 http photocure.com pressmedia news agreement with salix pharmaceuticals for lumacan photocure signs agreement with salix pharmaceuticals for lumacan external links edit official website this article about a medical pharmaceutical or biotechnological corporation or company is a stub . you can help wikipedia by expanding it . v t e retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title salix pharmaceuticals & oldid 717580882 categories companies based in raleigh north carolinacompanies established in 1989companies listed on nasdaqpharmaceutical companies of the united statesmedical company stubshidden categories all stub articles navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload 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