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Roche disclosed in a regulatory filing that it will plans to eliminate 500 positions in New Jersey by the end of this month, related to last year's acquisition of Genentech Inc., and plans to cut another 100 jobs in the state by June. While the cuts were expected after Roche acquired Genentech last year and announced it would move its US headquarters from Nutley, NJ to South San Francisco, it wasn’t clear how extensive the job loses would be. The company is closing down all manufacturing operations at the aging Nutley site.

This is more bad news for the State of New Jersey which has borne the brunt of the pharma downsizing trend that began in earnest about 4 years ago. As many of you may know, New Jersey has the highest concentration of pharmaceutical employees in the US. The loss of pharmaceutical jobs coupled with an enormous budget deficit suggests that it will be many years before New Jersey is able to recover from the economic downturn.

Roche, which had 2009 revenue of about $45.9 billion, employs more than 80,000 people worldwide.

Until next time…

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting (forget New Jersey)

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I was sitting around minding my own business (well sort of) and I received the following e-mail message. People must be reading BioJobBlog or something!

In the middle of the worst national job market since the early 1980's, Roche Pharma Research in Nutley, New Jersey is hiring. Specifically, this world class R&D center is seeking to hire 40 scientists to strengthen its research efforts to develop drugs to combat inflammatory diseases like arthritis and asthma.

In addition to Inflammation, Nutley continues to be the headquarters for Roche's Oncology Disease Biology Area, as well as RNA Therapeutics (an emerging area in understanding how genes are turned on and off in cells).

Focusing on drug discovery and non-clinical development, the site has a long tradition of discovering innovative new medicines.

Marcie Geremakis of Roche HR is available to discuss the efforts to recruit the new scientists and why Nutley is an outstanding environment for scientists.  A number of scientists are available to discuss the following:

• Roche's cutting edge scientific approaches to drug discovery focused on meeting the demands of the emerging need for personalized healthcare.

• Roche's intent to provide its scientists with the environment necessary to push forward novel ideas while challenging old paradigms.
• The ability to use state-of-the-art technology and collaborate with Roche's world class scientists across the globe engaged in biomarker discovery, novel biologics platforms, RNAi and diagnostics.

With well over 100 projects in research and more than 60 New Molecular Entities in development, Roche’s pipeline is among the best in the pharmaceuticals industry.

Please call me at 212-468-4306 or e-mail me at jillian.chertok@mslworldwide.com if you would like any additional information, or are interested in scheduling a time to speak with Marcie or one of the scientists at Roche. 

I must disclose that I have no financial arrangement with this agency nor have I ever done business with them before.  But, I figured if there are jobs to be had in this economy I ought to pass them on to folks who are looking.

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!

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Late Thursday, after 8 months of difficult and often acrimonious negotiations, Genentech’s board finally caved and agreed to allow Roche to purchase the remaining 44% of the outstanding Genentech shares that it doesn’t already own. The price: $95 per share—less than the $112 per share that Genentech’s board and management team wanted —but better than the $86.50 per share that was tendered last fall.

While Roche contends that it will continue to run Genentech as an autonomously operating business unit, many Genentech employees are dubious. I suspect that many DNA (Genentech’s stock symbol) employees will embrace a “wait and see” attitude before any decisions are made about whether or not to stay at the “new company.” Roche’s greatest challenge will be integrating the two companies without ruining Genentech’s innovative culture and immediately sending its best scientists and management team out the door. Pharma and biotech corporate cultures are very different from one another and many biotech employees find it difficult to adapt to big pharma’s slow-moving and anachronistic approach to drug development. As previously reported, US business operations of both companies will be based at Genentech’s headquarters in South San Francisco, CA rather than in Nutley, NJ, where Roche’s American business is currently based. This is not good news for many of Roche’s Nutley employees. Roche has been trying unsuccessfully for years to jettison the Nutley site and it seems likely now. Don’t be surprised if you see a mass exodus at the Nutley site. All of Roche’s US products will be sold under the Genentech brand.

Roche’s purchase of Genentech, America’s oldest biotechnology company (started in 1976) and considered by many to be the crown jewel of the industry, truly signals the end of an era. Let’s hope that another “Genentech” (and others like it) emerge as the US biotechnology industry continues to evolve in the 21^st century.

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!

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