Alnylam cuts workforce by a third
pharmafile | January 23, 2012 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Alnylam, Novartis, job cuts, rnai
Alnylam will cut 33% of its workforce this year as it looks to focus on developing its own products.
The firm began by discovering new drugs and then licensing them to bigger pharma firms, but is now focusing on developing its own products using its RNAi technology.
An Alnylam statement said it wants to: “Align its resources to focus on what it believes to be the company’s highest value opportunities with accelerated clinical development plans.”
Taking drugs through the clinical trial process is a much more expensive affair and will require higher spending – the firm is making the cuts in order to take these savings and re-invest into its new programme.
This adds to the cuts made in 2010, when Alnylam axed around a quarter of its workforce after a deal with Novartis ended.
The Massachusetts-based firm expects the cuts to result in a savings of around $20 million this year, but will incur a $4 million restructuring cost in the first quarter.
The company added that it has increased its year-end 2011 cash guidance to around $260 million, and will provide financial guidance for 2012 alongside its full year results next month.
John Maraganore, chief executive of Alnylam, said: “As we effect our ongoing transformation from a platform company to a product company, now is the time to focus our near-term efforts and resources on what we believe to be our highest value opportunities.
“As a result of this increased focus, we are making a business decision to implement an organisational restructuring that will include an approximate 33% reduction in our workforce.”
He added: “At a personal level, this was a very difficult decision to make, but we are convinced that it is an important step in continuing to build our company for the long term.”
The firm specialises in RNAi therapeutics, a branch of medicines that investigates the effect of genes when they are turned on and off in cells.
It currently has a number of drugs in early stage development, including ALN-TTR for the treatment of transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis and ALN-APC for haemophilia.
Ben Adams
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