Posted on July 17, 2010 by BioJobBlogger

Job Cuts Slow But Continue at Pharma and Biotech Companies

There are signs that the economy is improving and that unemployment levels have dropped from a high of 10.1 % to current levels which are hovering around 9.5 %. While this is good news, job cuts continue at many pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies as drug candidates fail in clinical trials and technological advances make certain employees dispensable.

Yesterday, Johnson and Johnson announced that it would layoff 300 of 400 employees who work at the Fort Washington, PA plant that was responsible for the recent Tylenol brouhaha and recall. According to a post on the Pharmalot blog:

”The employees are being let go because it is not clear when the plant will operate again. A J&J spokeswoman says the “best estimate” is the middle of 2011. It isn’t clear at this point whether or not any McNeil executives who oversaw operations at the troubled facility will also be shown the door."

In other news, Adolor, a Pennsylvania-based specialty drug maker, announced yesterday that it was laying off 30 workers or 30 per cent of its workforce to preserve capital and advance its opioid bowel dysfunction clinical development program through proof-of-concept studies in 2011. Also on Friday, the company stated in a press release that two new drug candidates it was developing with Pfizer to treat pain caused by osteoarthritis did not work better than a placebo in a Phase II clinical trial involving 400 patients. The company has one drug on the market, Entereg, a treatment that helps restore bowel function in adults who have undergone bowel re-section surgery. Earlier in the week, GlaxoSmithKline, which co-developed Entereg, scaled back its relationship with Adolor.

Finally, Eli Lilly & Co told its employees that it plans to cut 340 information technology jobs in 2010. Most of the cuts will take place in Indiana (Lilly’s corporate headquarters is in Indianapolis). The company has 1,350 information technology employees nationally. Earlier this year, Lilly has said it will eliminate 5,500 jobs by the end of 2011 to save $1 billion.

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!

 

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Posted on February 11, 2008 by BioJobBlogger

GlaxoSmithKline Suffers Another Regulatory Setback

US Food and Drug Administration regulators announced on Friday that it will take three months longer than expected to decide whether Entereg, a treatment for post-operative ileus being co-developed by GlaxoSmithKline, will receive marketing approval. The drug was originally supposed to be reviewed for an up-or-down decision on Feb. 10.

Entereg is being co-developed with Pennsylvania-based Adolor Corporation. Post-operative ileus affects patients after bowel surgery. Symptoms include constipation and other gastrointestinal dysfunction.

An FDA advisory panel recommended approval in January but said Adolor needed to come up with a better plan to manage long term use of the drug. FDA regulators are concerned about safety data showing that long term use of Entereg can have adverse cardiovascular effects.

Adolor has submitted a new risk-management plan to the FDA, which will take the extra three months to review it.  GlaxoSmithKline will split the revenue from any U.S. sales of Entereg with Adolor and is responsible for commercialization of the drug outside the country.

Until next time…

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!

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