Merck & Co. Cutting Drug Research Jobs at 3 East-Coast Sites in Latest Shake-Up
July 12 2016 - 2:46PM
Dow Jones News
By Peter Loftus
Merck & Co. said it plans to lay off
research-and-development workers at three East Coast sites in a
shake-up of its early-stage drug-hunting efforts that also includes
a new focus on the health effects of micro-organisms that populate
the human body.
A Merck spokeswoman said the job cuts, and some employee
transfers, would affect less than 10% of "discovery, preclinical
and early development" employees in Kenilworth, N.J., Rahway, N.J.,
and North Wales, Pa. The company's headquarters are in
Kenilworth.
The move marks the latest round of layoffs and reorganization
for Merck's research unit, which was once known for cutting-edge
drug development but which hit a fallow period late last
decade.
Other large drugmakers including Pfizer Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline
PLC also have cut R&D spending or reorganized research units in
recent years to become more productive relative to their
spending.
The Merck spokeswoman said the company is making the changes to
allow it to have "earlier access to emerging external science and
technology to augment our leading discovery and development
capabilities."
At the same time, Merck plans to start new laboratories in
Cambridge, Mass., and the San Francisco Bay Area, part of a trend
among large drug makers to try to tap into hot clusters of
biotechnology start-up activity and academic research.
Write to Peter Loftus at peter.loftus@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 12, 2016 14:31 ET (18:31 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Merck (NYSE:MRK)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Merck (NYSE:MRK)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024
