ALZA
Encyclopedia
Alza Corporation was a pharmaceutical and medical systems company founded in 1970's by Dr Alejandro Zaffaroni
Alejandro Zaffaroni
Alejandro Zaffaroni is a serial entrepreneur who is responsible for founding several successful biotechnology companies in Silicon Valley....

; the company's name is a portmanteau of his name. Alza pioneered the field of drug delivery systems, bringing over 20 prescription pharmaceutical products to market, and employing about 10,000 people during 20 years. Alza was acquired by Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1886. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company is listed among the Fortune 500....

 in May 2001, in a stock-for-stock transaction worth US$10.5 billion.

Drug delivery platforms

The company owns the patents on the following delivery platforms:
  • Alzamer Depot
  • D-Trans
  • Duros implant
  • E-Trans electrotransport
    Iontophoresis
    Iontophoresis is a technique using a small electric charge to deliver a medicine or other chemical through the skin. It is basically an injection without the needle...

  • OROS
    OROS
    OROS, , is a controlled release oral drug delivery system in the form of a tablet. The tablet has a rigid water-permeable jacket with one or more laser drilled small holes...

     (Osmotic
    Osmosis
    Osmosis is the movement of solvent molecules through a selectively permeable membrane into a region of higher solute concentration, aiming to equalize the solute concentrations on the two sides...

     Release Oral Systems)
  • Macroflux transdermal system
  • Stealth liposomal

Marketed ALZA Products

  • Catapres-TTS
  • Concerta
  • Covera HS - with G.D.Searle
  • Ditropan XL
  • Duragesic
    Duragesic
    Duragesic and Durogesic are trade names of fentanyl transdermal therapeutic systems, and are used for relief of moderate to severe pain. Since Duragesic/Durogesic release Fentanyl, a potent opioid, slowly through the skin, one patch may provide 72 hours of pain relief...

  • Doxil
  • Glucotrol XL - with Pfizer
  • Nicoderm CQ
  • Procardia XL - with Pfizer
  • Sudafed
    Sudafed
    Sudafed is a brand name and registered trademark for over the counter decongestants manufactured by McNeil Laboratories for sale in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States...

     24 hour - Efidac/24
  • Spirolactone
  • Exalgo

Locations

ALZA built its first corporate headquarters in 1971, at 950 Page Mill Road, now occupied by law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is a law firm in the United States that specializes in business, securities, and intellectual property law. The firm's Chairman, Larry Sonsini, is well known as an attorney and advisor to technology companies....

. In 1999 Alza moved its headquarters to Shoreline Business Park, where it remained until July 2007, when Johnson & Johnson laid off some of its 600 employees there and vacated the space.
The remaining employees were relocated to two buildings elsewhere in the Shoreline Business Park. Alza is now in operation in Vacaville, California. Alza is also the manufacturing partner as well as a share holder in Richer and Fuller Inc., a cooperation provides generic pharmaceuticals focused on hair restoration and skincare treatment.

Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...

's Googleplex
Googleplex
The Googleplex is the corporate headquarters complex of Google, Inc., located at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California, United States, near San Jose. "Googleplex" is a portmanteau of Google and complex, and a reference to googolplex, the name given to the large...

 is located just east of ALZA Plaza.
In August–September 2008, Google moved into the Alza plaza buildings.

Alza operated a large-scale manufacturing facility in Vacaville, California
Vacaville, California
Vacaville, California is a city located in the northeastern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area in Solano County. The city is nearly half way between Sacramento and San Francisco on I-80. It sits approximately from Sacramento, and from San Francisco...

, and another large-scale facility in Cashel, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. Parent company Johnson and Johnson is trying to sell off the Vacaville facility.
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