Alza Corporation was an American

pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

and

medical system A health system, health care system or healthcare system is an organization of people, institutions, and resources that delivers health care services to meet the health needs of target populations. There is a wide variety of health systems aroun ...

s company.

Background

Founded in 1968 by Dr. Alejandro Zaffaroni; the company's name is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of his name. Alza was a major pioneer in the field of

drug delivery Drug delivery involves various methods and technologies designed to transport pharmaceutical compounds to their target sites helping therapeutic effect. It involves principles related to drug preparation, route of administration, site-specif ...

systems, bringing over 20 prescription pharmaceutical products to market, and employing about 10,000 people during 20 years. In 2001, Alza was acquired by

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technologies corporation headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its common stock is a c ...

via 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 *

OROS The osmotic-controlled release oral delivery system (OROS) is an advanced Time release technology, controlled release oral drug delivery system in the form of a rigid Tablet (pharmacy), tablet with a semi-permeable outer membrane and one or more ...

(

Osmotic Osmosis (, ) is the spontaneous net movement or diffusion of solvent molecules through a selectively-permeable membrane from a region of high water potential (region of lower solute concentration) to a region of low water potential (region o ...

Release Oral System) * Macroflux transdermal system * Stealth liposomal

Marketed Alza products

Locations

Alza built its first

corporate headquarters Corporate headquarters is the part of a corporate structure that deals with tasks such as strategic planning, corporate communications, taxes, law, books of record, marketing, finance, human resources, and information technology. Corporate headqu ...

in 1971, at 950 Page Mill Road in

Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, California. In 1990, Alza moved its headquarters to Shoreline Business Park, where it remained until late 2007, a few years after Alza was acquired by Johnson & Johnson. The remaining employees were relocated to two buildings elsewhere in the Shoreline Business Park. Alza operated a large-scale manufacturing facility in

Vacaville, California Vacaville is a city located in Solano County, California, United States. It is located from Sacramento, California, Sacramento and from San Francisco, it is on the edge of the Sacramento Valley in Northern California. The city was founded in ...

, but it was announced that this facility would shut down by 2022. They also previously operated a large-scale facility in

Cashel Cashel (an Anglicised form of the Irish language word ''Caiseal'', meaning "stone fort") may refer to: Places in Ireland *Cashel, County Tipperary **The Rock of Cashel, an ancient, hilltop fortress complex for which Cashel is named ** Archbishop ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Google's

Googleplex The Googleplex is the corporate headquarters complex of Google. It is located at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, California. The original complex, with of office space, is the company's second largest square footage assemblage of ...

is located just east of Alza Plaza. In August–September 2008, Google moved into the Alza plaza buildings. Alza pano from Permanente Creek Trail

References

{{J&J Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries Defunct pharmaceutical companies of the United States Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Healthcare in the San Francisco Bay Area Companies based in Mountain View, California Pharmaceutical companies established in 1968 Pharmaceutical companies disestablished in 2001 Life sciences industry 1968 establishments in California 2001 disestablishments in California

Background

Drug delivery platforms

Marketed Alza products

Locations

See also

References