Post Labor Day Job Cut Report
Despite the fact that no new jobs were added to the US economy in August, things were pretty quiet in the pharmaceutical layoff space. From what I was able to find, it appears that Alcon Laboratories will be moving about 100 jobs from Atlanta to Fort Worth Texas (I was recently in Fort Worth for the first time and I extend my sympathies to those Atlantans that may make the move). The consolidation is taking place because Novartis purchased Alcon in April and after acquisitions these sorts of things happen. Nestle, another Swiss company, had a majority ownership in Alcon.
Interestingly, there appears to be some consolidation also taking place in the contract manufacturing space. Contract Pharma announced that it would close its Buffalo, NY manufacturing facility (purchased from Bristol Myers Squibb in 2005) and eliminate 128 jobs. Those employees who do not lose their jobs may have an opportunity to work in a nearby Ontario, Canada site. Likewise, UK-based United Drug, another CMO, will cut 150 jobs because of government-led regulatory decision to reduce health spending.
While none of these announcements were particularly noteworthy, Sanofi-Aventis’ announcement today that it will cut $2.9 billion in costs over the next few years was somewhat shocking but not unexpected. Most of the cuts will be in R&D and there will undoubtedly be massive downsizing and reorganization.
According to a post on today’s Pharmalot blog “a presentation indicates that research and development costs are in the process of being cut by 12 percent from 2008 to about $1.1 billion, excluding Genzyme. And the total headcount over this same period is being reduced by about 22 percent, from roughly 13,000 positions to about 10,000 jobs by the end of this year, again excluding Genzyme.”
Today’s announcement of cut back is consistent with Sanofi’s business strategy over the past year or so which included plant closings and large sales rep layoffs Again, the Pharmalot blog reported “The upcoming round involves slashing about $700 million in expenses from Genzyme, the biotech that Sanofi purchased recently, as oncology units in the Boston area are combined.”
The cost cutting measures are in response to the impending loss of patent exclusivity for several of its blockbuster products most notably Plavix and unexpected attrition in the company’s late stage clinical development portfolio. This year sales of products facing patent expiry are expected to decline to $4.2 billion as compared with $10.6 billion in 2008. To cope with these difficulties, Sanofi has gone on a buying spree over the last couple of years spending $23 billion to acquire various companies with Genzyme being the crown jewel.
Meanwhile, Sanofi plans to file for approval of six new drugs this year and hopes that it can introduce 19 new drugs by 2015. I suspect that Sanofi’s aggressive M&A strategy may help the company reach that goal. That said, if I was a Sanofi or Genzyme employee, I would be dusting off the old resume right about now.
Until next time...
Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!
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