《财富》杂志将推出系列报道聚焦今年美国500强的员工、公司和发展趋势，本文为系列报道之首。

    当一个公司正式成为财富美国500强一员时，会发生怎样的变化？这样的地位提升对公司是不是一件变革性的大事？人们会不会觉得公司自助餐厅的食物突然变得更美味了？员工走在办公室里有没有头抬得更高，接电话的语调更庄重了？

    当我在星期一驱车向西，从纽约市前往阿特维斯总部所在地——新泽西的帕西帕尼地区时，心里一直琢磨着这些问题。这家仿制药和特种制药公司刚成为24家新晋财富美国500强企业之一，名列第432位。

    2013年的新晋公司涵盖面颇广。有社交媒体巨头Facebook，它在颇具争议的IPO后不到一年的时间里跻身榜单第482位；也有炼油商Phillips 66，从康菲石油（ConocoPhillips）剥离后一举登上榜单第4名的位置。

    但我还是决定去阿特维斯进行首场财富美国500强探访。这倒不仅是因为我喜欢新泽西绿茵丛丛的小镇和花园式办公区，更重要的是阿特维斯最近发生了很多事。该公司生产立普妥（Lipitor）和维柯丁（Vicodin）的仿制药。它拥有十分畅销的多动症（ADHD）和低睾丸素治疗药品，口服避孕药业务规模也相当庞大。要说最大的一件事，还是这家制药商在完成并购案后从华生制药更名为阿特维斯之举，这方面一会儿再详细阐述。

    我抵达后和阿特维斯CEO保罗•比萨罗坐进了会议室，那天早上刚发布了新的财富美国500强名单。我想知道阿特维斯有没有在等待这个消息，主管们有没有意识到2012年59亿美元的收入已经能让公司从2011年的第515位跃进500强？在我把财富美国500强的帽子和徽章赠送给比萨罗时，他说道：“实际上，这个消息对我们来说是个惊喜。我没有特别关注这事，但知道阿特维斯进入了500强，我很高兴，对我们来说它的意义会很深远。”

    这并不是我想象中会得到的答复。不过鉴于阿特维斯正处在忙季，我也就原谅了比萨罗没有那么高度关注500强的新闻。两周前，阿特维斯的股价首次突破每股100美元。昨天阿特维斯的股价已经达到每股107美元，自2011年初以来上涨超过一倍，轻松跑赢对手迈兰（Mylan）和梯瓦制药（Teva Pharmaceutical）。上周阿特维斯发布第一季度财报，宣布上调2013财年盈利预期。

    实际上，在我来之前，比萨罗正和一些投资者在开会。当然投资者都很想知道比萨罗手上的数据，但他们更关心的是，最近关于阿特维斯可能会被加拿大Valeant国际制药公司（Valeant Pharmaceuticals International）收购的报道。Valeant是一家并购型公司，在过去的5年里完成了逾30起交易。“当然每个人都想聊聊这个传言，”比萨罗说道，“但我们也绝不谈论任何传言，所以会议很短。”

    This is the first in a regular series of stories that will be focused on people, companies, and trends in the Fortune 500.

    How do things change for a company on the day when it officially joins the Fortune 500? Is the status upgrade a transformative event? Does the food in the cafeteria suddenly taste better? Do employees walk around the office with their heads held a little higher and answer the phone with a bit more gravitas in their voice?

    I found myself pondering these questions on Monday as I drove west from New York City to the Parsippany, N.J., headquarters of Actavis (ACT), the generic and specialty pharmaceutical company and, at No. 432, one of 24 new members of the Fortune 500 this year.

    The list of newcomers in 2013 includes companies as diverse as social media giant Facebook (FB), which made it at No. 482 less than a year after its controversial IPO, and oil refiner Phillips 66 (PSX), which debuted at No. 4 after being spun off from ConocoPhillips (COP).

    But I decided to spend Fortune 500 day at Actavis -- and not just because I like leafy New Jersey towns with office parks. A lot has been going on lately at the company, which makes generic versions of Lipitor and Vicodin, has big-selling medications that address ADHD and low testosterone, and is huge in oral contraceptives. The single biggest development is that the drugmaker recently changed its name from Watson Pharmaceuticals to Actavis after a merger -- but more on that in a moment.

    I arrived and sat down with CEO Paul Bisaro in a conference room. The new 500 had just been released that morning. Had Actavis been waiting for the call, I wondered? Did the executives realize that the company's $5.9 billion in 2012 revenue would be enough to make the jump from No. 515 last year to full 500 status? "Actually, it was a surprise," said Bisaro, after I presented him with a Fortune 500 hat and lapel pin. "I hadn't focused on it. But I'm just happy that we're here. I think it's going to be great."

    Not precisely the answer I was looking for. But knowing that it's been a busy time at Actavis, I was willing to forgive Bisaro for letting the 500 news sneak up on him. Two weeks ago the company's stock price passed $100 per share for the first time. At $107 yesterday, the stock has more than doubled since the beginning of 2011 and has easily outperformed that of rivals Mylan (MYL) and Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA). And when the company released its first-quarter results last week, it boosted its earnings projections for 2013.

    In fact, moments before I showed up Bisaro had been meeting with a group of investors. They were interested in his numbers, of course, but mostly they wanted to ask about recent reportsthat Actavis might be bought by Canadian drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX), a particularly acquisitive company that has done more than 30 deals in the past five years. "Of course everyone wanted to talk about the rumor," said Bisaro. "But of course we don't talk about rumors so it was a very short conversation."

    如果，假设地说，阿特维斯不久被Valeant收购，那么阿特维斯在500强榜单的停留时间就很短了。那样会不会有点失望？比萨罗回答说：“我们希望长期留在榜单上。”

    比萨罗在几个月前刚完成了自身的一个重要收购计划。去年10月31日，华生制药宣布对瑞士阿特维斯集团的收购完成，这次收购以55亿美元股票加现金的方式交易。新合并后的公司名叫阿特维斯，而不是华生。（为了给这次收购交易融资，公司资产负债表上增加了60亿美元债务。目前的债务与息税折旧及摊销前利润比率为3.5倍。比萨罗说，考虑到公司强劲的现金流，这个比率水平完全可控。）这次收购使阿特维斯成为全球第三大仿制药生产商，业务布局于全球62个国家，而之前为20个。比萨罗对我说：“我们现在能切实说阿特维斯是个全球公司。”

    用阿特维斯这个名字是有道理的，比萨罗说，因为“华生”这个名字在全球太普通了，而且公司在澳大利亚和英国市场曾与相似命名的企业发生过版权纠纷。但阿特维斯没有对改名掉以轻心，它之前聘请了品牌策略公司Lippincott研究各种选项，咨询师们最初提供了近2000种方案。（其中一个内部建议是，用华生和阿特维斯的组合出一个名称：“Wacktivis”，这个建议很快被否定。）比萨罗和他的团队将范围缩小到8个备选名字，最后决定使用阿特维斯，这个名字的全球识别度已经相当高，是最好不过的选择。

    阿特维斯已经在全球成功进行了改名，唯一的例外是他们在帕西帕尼的花园式总部。停车场和大楼的外面的所有指示牌都还写着“华生制药”。当然，在几年前，比萨罗计划把总部从加利福尼亚的科洛纳搬到帕西帕尼时，花了两年时间才获得帕西帕尼同意将带有公司名字字样的指示牌树立起来。标识更改之战很可能在并购整合完成后继续很长时间。最初，联席创始人赵天宇（台裔美籍）给这家制药公司命名为华生。赵天宇为了纪念母亲，在1984年成立公司时，用母亲的娘家姓“华”来命名。华生，即“华”之子。赵天宇在2007年退休之前一直担任CEO一职，随后由比萨罗继任。

    比萨罗，现年52岁，1992年进入制药业，当时他是巴尔制药（Barr Pharmaceuticals）的首席法律顾问，后来升职为总裁兼首席运营官。在他刚加入华生时，便将全球扩张作为重中之重。当时，公司几乎所有的收入都来自于美国市场。今年，阿特维斯约40%的销售额将来自于美国境外。比萨罗预计，在5年内，美国镜内外销售比将达到1：1。阿特维斯在全球的雇员数量为1万7千人，包括在美国的约5400名员工，在印度有庞大生产业务。

    如今，所有仿制药生产商目前都面临着一个重大挑战：仿制药依靠畅销品牌药的专利过期带动业务，而专利过期潮近年来正在逐渐退去。比萨罗称，下一个大机遇是所谓的生物仿制药——即昂贵的尖端生物药品的基本仿制品，而生物药品销量已经开始赶超传统小颗粒药品。比萨罗将生物仿制药称为“新前沿领域”。阿特维斯已经和生物科技巨头安进（Amgen）达成协议，在安进的四款药品专利到期后，进行共同销售。比萨罗说他相信阿特维斯能在这个新领域不断增长。

    如果比萨罗是正确的，阿特维斯便能继续留在500强的榜单上，并且一路向上攀登。他说：“我们不会只满足于432位，还想排名更靠前。”

    从某种程度上说，排名靠前带来的声望或许也能帮助他更改大楼的标识。（财富中文网）

    译者：默默

    If, hypothetically, Actavis were to be acquired by Valeant in the near future, that would make for a very short stay for Actavis on the 500. Wouldn't that be kind of a letdown? "Our intention is to be on the Fortune 500 for a long time," replied Bisaro tactfully.

    It's only been a few months since Bisaro completed a major purchase of his own. On Oct. 31, Watson Pharmaceutical announced that its $5.5 billion stock and cash deal to buy the Actavis Group of Switzerland had closed, and that the newly-merged company would be known as Actavis, not Watson. (To fund the purchase, the company put about $6 billion of debt on its balance sheet. It's now at 3.5 times debt-to-EBITDA, which Bisaro says is easily manageable given its strong cash flow.) The deal made Actavis the world's third-largest generic drugmaker. It now operates in 62 countries, up from 20. "We can truly say we're a global company now," Bisaro told me.

    Taking the Actavis name made sense, said Bisaro, because "Watson" turned out to be too common around the world, and he ran into copyright conflicts with similarly named businesses in markets such as Australia and England. But the company didn't take the name change lightly. It hired brand strategy firm Lippincott to explore options, and the consultants came back with roughly 2,000 possibilities. (One internal suggestion that was quickly rejected was a Watson/Actavis mash-up: "Wacktivis.") Bisaro and his team whittled down the list to eight finalists before deciding that embracing Actavis, already recognized globally, was the best solution.

    Actavis has successfully rebranded itself everywhere already except its own office park headquarters in Parsippany. All the signage in the parking lot and on the outside of the building still reads "Watson Pharmaceuticals." Of course, it took two years for the company to get permission from the local township to put the name up when they moved in a few years ago, after Bisaro moved the headquarters from Corona, Calif. The battle to change the sign may well rage on well after the merger integration is a distant memory.The drugmaker was originally given the name Watson by co-founder Allen Chao, a Taiwanese-American. He wanted to honor his mother, whose maiden name was Hwa. So he Americanized "Hwa's son" into Watson when he started the firm in 1984. Chao served as CEO until he retired in 2007, and Bisaro was recruited to be his successor.

    Bisaro, 52, got into the world of pharma when he joined Barr Pharmaceuticals in 1992 as chief legal counsel, later rising to become president and chief operating officer. When he arrived at Watson, he immediately decided that a top priority was to expand internationally. At the time, almost 100% of the drugmaker's revenues were derived from the U.S. This year about 40% of sales at Actavis will come from outside the U.S., and Bisaro thinks that in five years the ratio of U.S. to non-U.S. revenues could be 50/50. Of the company's 17,000 employees, about 5,400 are in the U.S. It has large production operations in India.

    All generic drugmakers are dealing with a major business challenge these days: The wave of patent expirations on best-selling, branded drugs that fueled their business in recent years is slowing. The next big opportunity, according to Bisaro, is in so-called biosimilars -- basically, generic versions of the complex, expensive biotech medicines that have begun to overtake traditional small molecule pharmaceuticals in sales. Bisaro calls biosimilars "the new frontier." Actavis has signed a deal with biotech giant Amgen (AMGN) to partner in selling four of its drugs as they come off patent. The CEO says he is confident that Actavis is set to keep growing in this brave new world.

    If Bisaro is right, Actavis could become a fixture on the 500, climbing its way toward the top. "We don't just want to be 432," he said. "We want to go up higher."

    At some point, maybe he'll even have enough cred to get the sign changed on his building.