Layoffs
Theranos fit in with the opaque culture of Silicon Valley, which allowed it to thrive and amass a fortune without delivering anything, book argues.
In the wake of a Complete Response Letter issued by the FDA, Trevana, Inc. is slashing one-third of its workforce. On Wednesday, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals also announced it was terminating 60 percent of its staff as the company narrows its research and development focus.
Shares of South San Francisco-based Achaogen, Inc. fell more than 12 percent in Monday trading after the company signaled that it began a review of strategic alternatives that could include a sale of the company.
According to Jay Bradner, president of the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, the company is cutting its drug programs from 430 to 340. One of the big areas the company is abandoning is infectious diseases. The decision is a result of a strategic review by Vasant (Vas) Narasimhan, the company’s chief executive officer.
Citing structural simplification, Pfizer announced it plans to cut its global staffing by about 2 percent. It expects to do so primarily through voluntary layoffs and early retirement through the end of this year and early in 2019.
German company Bayer AG is laying off 227 staffers at its manufacturing plant in Berkeley, California. Most of the cuts took place on October 3.
Despite winning regulatory approval for a copycat version of Copaxone earlier this year, Cambridge, Mass.-based Momenta Pharmaceuticals has completed a strategic review that includes slashing its staff by 50 percent as the company focuses its resources on two biosimilar candidates in its pipeline.
Earlier this month, Novo Nordisk announced it was laying off 400 staffers in Denmark and China. Today, Reuters reports that the Danish company plans to lay off about 250 people in the United States.
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis plans to slash approximately 2,200 jobs in Switzerland over the next four years.
Novo Nordisk is laying off 400 staffers so it can shift funds toward biological and technological innovation.
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