UK hit hard as AstraZeneca reveals R&D cuts
pharmafile | March 3, 2010 | News story | Research and Development | AstraZeneca, job cuts
Nearly 3,500 R&D jobs will be affected at AstraZeneca in the coming months as the pharmaceutical giant exits discovery research in 10 therapeutic categories and closes down sites in the UK, Sweden and the US.
The drugmaker has been stripping down its operations as it stares down the barrel of patent expiries on some of its major earners, with generic competition coming soon in the US for breast cancer treatment Arimidex (anastrozole) and asthma drug Pulmicort Respules (budesonide inhalation solution).
AstraZeneca says it will continue to carry out development work in all its current therapeutic categories, but will no longer conduct early-stage research in schizophrenia, anxiety and depression, thrombosis, acid reflux, ovarian and bladder cancers, systemic scleroderma and hepatitis C.
It will also cut back all vaccine research with the exception of programmes in flu and respiratory syncytial virus.
The company had already announced its intention to make staff cuts in January, saying that around 8,000 would be shed across the group including 1,800 in R&D. Yesterday it revealed exactly where the axe would fall among its research staff and the total number of workers who would be affected by redeployment.
Top of the list of sites affected by the decision is the Charnwood R&D facility in Loughborough, UK, which will be closed with the loss of 1,200 jobs by the end of 2011.
The Charnwood unit focuses on respiratory and inflammatory disease research and is the main development centre for AstraZeneca’s pressurised metered dose inhaler (pMDI) activities. These activities will transfer to Moelndal in Sweden.
The UK will also see a site in Cambridge acquired as part of its purchase of KuDOS in 2005 close down with the loss of around 50 jobs, while AstraZeneca will also cease product development work at its Avlon facility near Bristol, which focuses mainly on manufacturing active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
The company’s R&D site at Alderley Park in Macclesfield will be net beneficiary of the revamp, inheriting some of this work and seeing its workforces expanded.
UK science and innovation minister Lord Drayson said: “I’m obviously disappointed that AstraZeneca is closing Charnwood, but the announcement that Alderley Park will become one of AZ’s top three global R&D sites shows that the UK remains an attractive location for investment in pharmaceuticals.
“That’s testament to the work the Government has done through the Office for Life Sciences to support the sector, especially the creation of the patent box.”
AstraZeneca also said it is also planning to sell Arrow Therapeutics, a UK-based antiviral specialist that it acquired for $150 million in 2007.
In the US, early-stage research will cease at its facility in Wilmington, Delaware, with the loss of around 550 jobs. Some of the employees from the unit, which specialises in psychiatric research, will transfer to AstraZeneca’s Boston-based R&D operation.
In Sweden, AstraZeneca will shutter its R&D unit in Lund by the end of 2011. The site currently employs around 900 staff. Respiratory and inflammatory research will transfer to AstraZeneca’s Moelndal site, which also focuses on gastrointestinal and cardiovascular R&D.
Anders Ekblom, executive vice president of development at AstraZeneca, said: “We have made real strides in improving our efficiency in recent years, but there is a continuing need to adapt our organisation in anticipation of future challenges.
“I am acutely aware that these proposed changes will have a significant impact on our people, and we are committed to providing support to them,” he added.
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