Watson to change brand in 2013

PARSIPPANY, N.J. – Watson Pharmaceuticals is changing its name to Actavis following its acquisition of the Swiss drug maker, Watson said.

Watson, whose $5.6 billion acquisition of Actavis received approval from the Federal Trade Commission earlier this month, said it would adopt the new name starting in 2013, with plans to start a multi-year rebranding campaign and trade under a new symbol on the New York Stock Exchange.

“When we announced the proposed acquisition of Actavis in April 2012, we immediately instituted an extensive and accelerated review of our global brand position and naming equities,” Watson president and CEO Paul Bisaro said. “A pioneer at the dawn of the U.S. Generic industry in 1984, the Watson corporate name was never registered globally. As we initiated our global expansion strategy in 2009, it became clear that we could not establish a single, unified market presence under the Watson brand.”

The rebranding will also include a redesign of the Actavis logo, created by branding firm Lippincott, which features a “W” emerging from an “A,” a reference to Watson.

The company also announced a new global generics commercial management team. Andrew Boyer, who joined Watson in 1998 as associate director of marketing in generics and served most recently as SVP sales and marketing, will lead the company's U.S. Generics business. Jean-Guy Goulet, the president for Canada and Mexico for Watson's Canadian subsidiary, Cobalt Pharmaceuticals, will lead the company's Canadian and Latin American business. The company's European, Asia, Middle East and Africa, and Australian businesses have new leaders as well.

Announcing its third quarter 2012 earnings Thursday, Watson said it had profits of $172.3 million, a 24.2% increase over third quarter 2011. Sales were $1.29 billion, an 18.8% increase over third quarter 2011, including $920.9 million in global generics sales.