Lundbeck cuts more jobs in Europe
pharmafile | June 24, 2013 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Lexapro, Lundbeck, cuts
Lundbeck is to cut yet more jobs in Europe as the Danish pharma firm restructures its operations to focus on international efforts and further simplify the way it carries out business.
Last year it announced plans to cut 600 posts in Europe – reducing its cost base to help it deal with declining revenues on blockbuster antidepressant Cipralex – while continuing to invest in the US and emerging markets.
This focus on growth markets continues, and the latest changes will “regrettably lead to a reduction of 50-55 positions in Europe”, the firm said in a statement.
“We want the best possible set-up to ensure the transition of our product portfolio through successful launches of new medicines,” explained Ole Chrintz, senior vice president, international markets and Europe at Lundbeck.
The idea is for Lundbeck to divvy up its commercial operations into six regions: Europe, US, Canada, Asia, Latin America and Middle East & Global Distribution.
Within the borders of Europe, Lundbeck will go further, bringing together more than 30 affiliates into ten business units, a move that the company hopes will enable it to improve its operations in areas such as market access, marketing and medical affairs.
This is in part an attempt to free up resources to invest in new medicines and global growth: it also means its activities will be aligned across countries, Lundbeck believes, eliminating the duplication of effort and ensuring the “general complexity of the business can be minimised”.
“With this plan we will have the focus, the structure and the competencies in place to achieve that,” Chrintz went on.
Called ‘Fit for the Future’, the change programme follows an earlier one called ‘Decisions Now’ and will also concentrate on standardising administrative processes, improving procurement and carrying out clinical trials more effectively.
Lundbeck has already warned that it is in a battle against generic pressure on its Alzheimer’s drug Ebixa in Europe and expects that brand’s revenue to fall by 30-40% over the whole of 2013.
US sales in the first quarter of this year were DKK 546 million, a fall of 31% on the same period in 2012, due largely to antidepressant Lexapro’s patent expiry.
But its strategy of freeing up resources for new medicines suggests optimism – and with good reason: its novel pill Selincro has been given European marketing authorisation to help patients with a drink problem to cut down, after showing it could reduce alcohol consumption by nearly two-thirds after six months in patients who are high-risk drinkers.
Lundbeck’s Phase III pipeline includes desmoteplase to treat ischaemic strokes, with filing expected in 2014, and schizophrenia drug brexpiprazole, which is part of a collaboration with Otsuka.
It officially opened its first manufacturing plant in China last year and says it plans to launch three new drugs there over the next three years.
In the first quarter of 2013 China was one of the three countries, along with Canada and Japan, which drove a 17% year-on-year rise in Lundbeck’s international markets.
More than a third of Lundbeck’s 5,800 employees are based in Denmark.
Adam Hill
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