Pharmaceutical services company Patheon announced Monday that it is acquiring Banner Pharmacaps, a High Point-based supplier of gel tabs to the pharmaceutical industry, for $255 million.

Patheon, which shifted its headquarters to Research Triangle Park from Toronto in 2008, is acquiring Banner from the Dutch company VION N.V.

Patheon manufactures prescription drugs and provides other services, such as developing the formulation of experimental drugs. Banner has a manufacturing facility in Mexico.

Patheon has 4,700 employees worldwide, including about 70 in RTP.  About 600 of Banner's 1,200 employees are based in High Point.

Patheon, the Canadian drug maker with headquarters in Research Triangle Park, reported an operating loss in the first quarter as revenues declined 12 percent.

The company reported revenues of $153.9 million, down from $175.7 million during the same period a year ago.

Patheon had an operating loss of $20.9 million, compared to operating income of $13.5 million in the first quarter of last year.

The company manufactures prescription drugs and provides other services, such as developing the formulation of experimental drugs. It employs about 50 in RTP. None of Patheon's nine manufacturing facilities is based in the Triangle.

Chapel Hill drug company Pozen's reported this morning that its revenue more than doubled in the fourth quarter thanks to a royalty payment for the U.S. rights to its experimental migraine drug.

The company had revenue of $73 million for the quarter, up from $29 million during the same period in 2010. Nearly all of that was from royalty payments the company received for the U.S. rights to Treximet.

In November, Pozen announced it had sold those rights to CPPIB Credit Investments, a Canadian investment firm fir $75 million, which netted the company proceeds of $71.9 million.

Pozen's net income for the quarter was $61.5 million, or $2.04 per share, compared to net income of $18.4, or 61 cents per share, during the fourth quarter of 2010.

That beat the $1.98 per share that was the consensus among the two analysts who cover the company.

Patheon, a pharmaceutical services company, has ousted CEO Wesley Wheeler.

The company, which moved its headquarters to Research Triangle Park from Toronto in 2008, announced today that it has hired a recruiting firm to find a new CEO. For now, Peter Bigelow, left, president of Patheon's North American operations will serve as interim CEO.

"The Board of Directors feels that the company has reached a stage where new leadership is required to help Patheon realize its full potential as an industry leader,” said chairman Ramsey Frank, in a prepared statement.

Patheon, the Canadian drug maker headquartered in Research Triangle Park, reported an uptick in first quarter sales but a decline in profit as well as an operating loss.

The company employs about 50 people in RTP and about 4,200 worldwide. Patheon produces pharmaceuticals and other services for major drug makers.

The company's sales were $154.8 million in the first quarter, up 5.2 percent for the same three-month period last year.

But the company posted an operating loss of $6.6 million, compared to operating income of $3.9 million a year ago. Gross profit for the quarter fell to $24.6 million from $30.7 million.

The company attributed the declines to expenses associated acquistions and consolidations, as well as declining demand from customers. The company has been cutting jobs throughout the recession to remain competitive.

Patheon's shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Drug maker Patheon has hired a new president of North American operations, who will oversee international facilities that account for $249 million in revenue.

Peter T. Bigelow is coming to Research Triangle Park-based Patheon from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, where he was most recently senior vice president. Prior to joining Wyeth in 1995, he worked with Smithlkine Beecham, which later became part of GlaxoSmithKline.

In his new job, Bigelow will oversee six North American facilities -- three in Canada, one in Cincinnati and two in Puerto Rico. Patheon has a total of 11 manufacturing facilities and six development centers globally. The company makes drugs for various drug companies and also assists in drug development.

A Canadian drug maker that moved its U.S. headquarters to Research Triangle Park last year reported today that quarterly revenue fell, partly because of "global softness in pharmaceutical development activity."

Patheon now employs about 50 at the headquarters and an RTP laboratory, and about 4,400 worldwide. The company expects to add up to 50 more local employees as its lab expands, said spokeswoman Wendy Wilson.

The company produces prescription medicines for other pharmaceutical firms, which have been cutting back amid the recession. Patheon also blamed its revenue drop on a manufacturing snag in its Puerto Rico operations that hurt output.