J&J Cuts 64 Employees in Manhattan Ahead of Company Split
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More life sciences job cuts are hitting New York. Johnson & Johnson will lay off 64 employees from its Manhattan-based pharmaceutical supplies business in the early part of 2023.
In a WARN notice filed with the state of New York on Oct. 14, life sciences giant J&J will terminate the employees during a two-week window from Jan. 13 and Jan. 26. In its notice, J&J cited economics as the reason for the culling of employees.
The employees who are losing their jobs are not represented by a union, the company noted in the WARN notice.
The job cuts were signaled earlier this week during a quarterly financial call with analysts and media. During the call, J&J Chief Financial Officer said the company is looking at "right-sizing" itself as it prepares for the planned split into two entities, Reuters reported.
Last year, the company announced plans to separate its pharmaceutical and medical device business from its consumer health business.
An Overall Strong Q3
That “right-sizing” was announced despite the fact that J&J posted a strong third quarter that saw a 9.2% growth in pharmaceutical sales driven largely by multiple myeloma drug Darzalex and plaque psoriasis treatment, Tremfeya. Other drivers included inflammatory disorder treatment Stelara, prostate cancer drug Erleada and schizophrenia treatment Trevicta.
J&J did report declining sales for inflammatory disease treatment Remicade and cancer drug Imbruvica.
The consumer health business saw a 4.8% growth in sales. Primary drivers for this division included over-the-counter respiratory and analgesic products, as well as sales of skin care assets under the Neutrogena and Aveeno labels.
In all, J&J reported sales growth of 1.9% to $23.8 billion for the quarter. Operational growth increased 8.1%, the company reported.
The J&J business split is slated for 2023. The consumer health business will be known as Kenvue. In addition to Neutrogena and Aveeno, the division will also have such branded products as Tylenol and Band-Aid.
Job Cuts across the State
J&J’s cuts in Manhattan come less than two weeks after ImmunityBio announced it was laying off 38 employees at its Dunkirk, NY site. Those cuts began at the end of September and are expected to be completed by the end of the year, the company reported.
The cuts at the Dunkirk site were due to construction needs that are expected to take between 12 and 18 months to resolve, an ImmunityBio spokesperson told BioSpace. ImmunityBio gained the facility in January of this year from Athenex, Inc., a company that was scaling down operations.
In addition to ImmunityBio, Amneal Pharmaceuticals announced it was closing down a facility in Long Island, which resulted in the loss of 13 jobs.