Posted on Thu, Apr. 24, 2008

Skin-care firm growing at Alliance

By SANDRA BAKER

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH -- Galderma, a leading dermatological and pharmaceutical company, is expanding its U.S. headquarters at Alliance in far north Fort Worth to accommodate growth, the company said Wednesday.

The announcement comes two months after Galderma said it is buying CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals in Pennsylvania.

The expansion is also needed because of sales growth in its product lines and a move into the aesthetics and correctives, or the "beauty boom," skin-care market, said Albert Draaijer, Galderma's president.

Galderma said it had 20 percent growth in 2007, reporting U.S. sales of $545 million. It expects U.S. sales in 2008 to be $700 million, Draaijer said.

"We're growing quite a bit," he said. "We have to add a lot of people."

Where it is

Galderma said it will break ground Friday on a two-story, 50,000-square-foot building next to its office building at 14501 North Freeway, on the west side of Interstate 35W near Eagle Parkway.

In 2000, the company bought 8 acres from Hillwood Properties and built a 50,000-square-foot office building and 70,000 square feet of distribution space, and moved there from southwest Fort Worth.

Last month, Galderma bought an adjacent 3.7 acres from Hillwood and will use about 1 acre it already owned for the new building. Duke Realty Corp. is the general contractor. Construction is scheduled to be completed in January.

What it means

The new building will immediately house about 70 employees -- 40 now off-site and 30 more to be hired -- but it will be large enough for 100 employees, Draaijer said.

The building will also give the company much-needed conference-room space and in-house training rooms, he said.

"With the recent acquisition of CollaGenex, it's more important than ever to have this type of facility that can handle our needs," Draaijer said.

About the company

Galderma was created in 1981 as a joint venture between Nestlé and L'Oréal. It makes and markets treatments for acne, rosacea, fungal nail infections, psoriasis and pigment disorders. The company is a unit of Galderma Pharma S.A., which is based in France.

Galderma has a manufacturing plant in San Antonio but handles the bulk of its production at a plant in Montreal.