Roche manufacturing restructure means EU, US jobs cuts
pharmafile | November 13, 2015 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Medical Communications | Roche, job cuts, job losses, manufacturing, production, redundancies, restructure
Roche has announced plans to restructure its manufacturing network for small molecules, in a move that will see it mothball four plants and cut up to 1,200 jobs at a cost of around $1.6 billion.
The Swiss company says the move to a new generation of specialised medicines based on small molecules requires novel manufacturing technologies, and will therefore be produced in lower volumes than traditional medicines.
Roche plans to stop using four manufacturing sites in Clarecastle, Ireland; Leganes, Spain; Segrate, Italy; and Florence, United States, between 2016 and 2021. The move is expected to lead to redundancies, but the Basel-based firm said it would aim to minimise the impact by actively looking into divestment opportunities for the facilities and support those affected as much as possible.
It is expected that the site closures will result in ‘non-core restructuring costs’ of 1.6 billion Swiss Francs ($1.6 billion) until 2021.
To gain the capability to manufacture the new generation of specialised medicines based on small molecules, Roche will invest 300 million Swiss francs ($300 million) into a dedicated facility in Kaiseraugst, Switzerland, to support future technology requirements. The company said the investment would strengthen both its development and launch capabilities.
“With these changes we are responding to the evolution of our small molecule portfolio towards specialised medicines produced in lower volumes,” says Daniel O’Day, chief operating officer, pharmaceuticals division of Roche. “We are aware of the impact this decision has on our colleagues, and we will do our utmost to support them during this transition.”
Roche has positioned this latest move as a continuation of its ongoing strategy of assessment and adaptation of its manufacturing capacities and technologies. To address the growing demand and its expanding pipeline of medicines across several therapeutic areas, the company has announced investments of over CHF 2 billion ($2 billion) in its biologics manufacturing capacity over the past two years.
Joel Levy
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