A Few Dozen Here, A Few Hundred There... More Pharma Layoffs

For those keeping tabs, there are still more layoffs to report in the pharmaceutical industry. The latest cuts involve as many as 270 information technology jobs at an AstraZeneca (AZN) facility in the UK, The Macclesfield Express reports. The move was actually foreshadowed several months ago, when the drugmaker disclosed plans to eliminate 4,900 R&D, sales and marketing, and administrative jobs (back story). Meanwhile, Actavis, the generic drugmaker that earlier this year acquired Watson Pharmaceuticals, is eliminating about 300 sales reps - about 30 percent of its staff - and 54 jobs from Corona, California, according to this statement and a government notice. The move occurs just one month after Warner-Chilcott, which Actavis (ACT) more recently acquired, shed 88 employees in Rockaway, New Jersey (see this). Separately, Bayer (BAY) HealthCare is ending production and sales of its A1CNow and A1CNowSELFCHECK diabetes monitors, and has begun the process of closing a plant in Sunnyvale, California, where nearly 50 employees are being let go, according to a state government filing. A Bayer spokeswoman writes us that the decision reflects a shift to focus on other glucose monitoring systems. Such cutbacks, of course, are nothing new in the pharmaceutical industry. Merck (MRK), for instance, last month, disclosed plans to eliminate 8,500 jobs (read here), which contributed to 10,585 job cuts that were announced last month by drugmakers, according to the latest tally by Challe...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs