Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: BRL) was a global specialty and generic pharmaceutical manufacturer founded in 1970 as Barr Laboratories in New York. It was headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey (earlier Woodcliff Lake). It operated as a public holding company until Teva Pharmaceutical Industries acquired it on December 23, 2008 for roughly $7.5 billion; it ceased to exist as a standalone entity. In 2007, its last full year, Barr reported revenue of about $2.5 billion, net income of $128 million, and approximately 8,900 employees.
Barr developed, manufactured, and marketed generic and proprietary pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, and active pharmaceutical ingredients through three principal subsidiaries: Barr Laboratories, Duramed Pharmaceuticals (women's health), and PLIVA d.d., the Croatian generics maker acquired in 2006. Roughly 75% of revenue came from generic drugs, including generic oral contraceptives (about 18% of sales). Proprietary products included SEASONIQUE, Enjuvia, Mircette, the ParaGard IUD, and the emergency contraceptive Plan B; the PLIVA deal added a generic injectables portfolio.
Patent-litigation posture: Barr appears once in the tracked data, solely as a defendant (0 plaintiff, 1 defendant). That pattern is consistent with an operating generic manufacturer defending against brand-company patent suits rather than a non-practicing entity. Barr was also an active challenger of brand patents: its 2007 annual report notes 11 U.S. patent-challenge cases initiated that year, and 30 ANDAs filed.
Notable case: Celgene Corporation v. Barr Laboratories, Inc. et al. (D.N.J., 2:07-cv-00286), filed January 18, 2007, a 35 U.S.C. §271 patent infringement action asserting Celgene's thalidomide (THALOMID) delivery/method patents, including U.S. Patent 6,869,399. The case terminated May 26, 2010. Venue was the District of New Jersey, Barr's home district rather than a plaintiff-friendly NPE venue such as the Eastern District of Texas.