Loss of patent rights to money making drugs triggers latest downsizing.
Turmoil in the global pharmaceutical industry again has found its way to a Delaware's doorstep.
Drug giant AstraZeneca says it will eliminate 400 jobs in its U.S. commercial business, which is based and housed primarily in a headquarters off Del. 141 in Fairfax.
The company is seeking to reduce costs as it faces looming patent losses on many top-line drugs, including the schizophrenia drug Seroquel, a $5 billion global seller developed in now-shuttered Delaware labs. Seroquel loses its U.S. patent rights in March.
Some 330 workers face layoffs as 70 of the positions related to Thursday's early afternoon announcement already are vacant, AstraZeneca said. Sales staff will not be affected and workers at AstraZeneca's Newark-area manufacturing facility are not threatened, said spokesman Tony Jewell. Neither are development employees who from Delaware shepherd drugs through regulatory trials. Office employees, such as those in human resources, finance and marketing roles, appear to be bearing the brunt of this round of layoffs.
Employees affected can either volunteer or will be identified by early December, the company said. The layoffs take effect early next year, Jewell said.
"This will be very difficult for our entire organization, particularly the people who are directly impacted," said Rich Fante, president of AstraZeneca's U.S.business.
"However, these changes are necessary to build a leaner, more efficient organization that will enable the company to continue delivering against our mission of patient health and sustaining a strong business for years to come."
The layoffs continue a dramatic cutback by AstraZeneca, which employs about 3,500 people in Delaware, down from a peak of about 5,000. The U.K.-based company recently completed a round of Delaware cuts as part of a global restructuring of research and development operations. AstraZeneca said in March it would end discovery research into psychiatric medicines, claiming 550 Delaware jobs.
The company also plans to demolish the marking an end to the company's discovery.
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