Pernix buying another company to fill out capacity, product needs

Pernix Therapeutics, a Houston-area specialty drug manufacturer, is continuing its buying spree in which it has picked up manufacturing capacity.

The company announced yesterday that it would pay $101 million in cash and delayed payments and milestones to buy the privately owned Cypress Pharmaceuticals and its subsidiary Hawthorn Pharmaceuticals. The companies are based in Madison, MS. Cypress makes generic drugs and Hawthorn makes branded products, Pernix said in a release.

Pernix also completed the acquisition of Great Southern Laboratories, a Houston-area contract manufacturer. In July, Pernix agreed to pay $4.9 million. With that deal, Pernix CEO Cooper Collins said Pernix would not only add to its development expertise, but also gain the ability to manufacture in-house some products it was having to outsource.

In a separate earning release, the company said it has already made efficiency and quality improvements at Great Southern Labs. It also attributed a $500,000 operating loss mostly to that deal. It reported a $300,000 net loss for its third quarter on $18.1 million in revenue.

- read the earnings release
- here's the buyout release