Eli Lilly taking an axe to tech ops

Eli Lilly's plans for a new round of job cuts in Indianapolis apparently includes taking an axe to its technology operations. According to a report in the Indianapolis Star, the Big Pharma company told state officials that it plans new layoffs at its HQ, with more cuts at the north and south campuses of its technology center as well as its Intech Park campus. Lilly spelled out some of its plans in a letter to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, making it clear that these are...

GlobeImmune cuts 25% of staff

Roughly six months after raising $17.5 million for Phase III work, Louisville, CO-based GlobeImmune says it has laid of 15 of its 60 employees--or 25 percent.  "Basically we were adjusting the organization for what we are working on," CEO Timothy Rodell tells the Daily Camera. "It was a force of business." 2008 Fierce 15 winner GlobeImmue is developing Tarmogens--targeted molecular immunogens--for diseases like hep C and cancer. The developer has reported promising Phase IIb data...

Adolor cuts 30 jobs as Entereg sales falter

Exton, PA-based Adolor is cutting 30 jobs, or about a third of its workforce, as it attempts to reduce cash burn levels. The developer had 114 employees at the end of 2009. In May 2008, the FDA approved Entereg for postoperative ileus, a common condition following surgery that can extend a patient's hospital stay. It was the first approval for Adolor, which was partnered with GlaxoSmithKline on the treatment. Sales of the drug have been slow since it launched in 2009. Second quarter sales of...

Merck to shutter eight R&D facilities in global restructuring

Driven by a need to cut back after swallowing Schering-Plough while relying more on external development collaborations, Merck today spelled out long-awaited plans to shutter eight R&D centers around the globe, including facilities in Cambridge, MA and Montreal. In a release issued this morning, Merck said it would close research operations in Montreal, Canada; Boxmeer (Nobilon facility only), Oss, and Schaijk, Netherlands; Odense, Denmark; Waltrop, Germany; Newhouse, Scotland; and...

Santarus cuts 120 jobs, focuses on Phase III

San Diego-based Santarus is laying off 120 employees, or 37 percent of its staff. Santarus previously inked a deal with Prasco for an authorized generic of prescription Zegerid, a treatment for certain upper gastrointestinal diseases and disorders. The generic launch spells the end of Santarus' promotion of the drug, and the company is restructuring its commercial and other operations. It's also slashing its contract sales rep staff, keeping 110 reps to...

Gilead to buy CGI Pharm for $120M

Gilead Sciences will pay up to $120 million to purchase Branford, CT-based CGI Pharmaceuticals, a private developer focused on small molecule chemistry and kinase biology. The company's lead compound is in preclinical testing for the treatment of serious inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis. The majority of Gilead's $120 million will come as an upfront payment, with the remainder based on clinical development of drug targets. The deal is expected to close in the...

Tech player febit axes 60% of staff in restructuring

With a new focus on blood-based microRNA biomarker discovery, Germany's febit has triggered a restructuring that includes axing more than half its workforce and the departure of its CEO. The biomarker company says that 60 percent of its staff has been let go, and CEO Cord F. Staehler has resigned and joined Siemens Healthcare. Hartmut Voss, Ph.D., has joined febit as the new co-CEO with Jochen Kohlhaas who will also continue as febit's CFO. "The restructuring will allow febit to focus on its...

Myriad axes 21 jobs, suspends HIV programs in restructuring

With an eye to extending its cash runway past 2013, Salt Lake City-based Myriad Pharmaceuticals announced this morning that it's axing 21 employees and suspending work on its HIV programs while concentrating its resources on the developer's cancer drug pipeline. The HIV work will now be put on the block for potential partners to bid on. "Over the last six years Myriad Pharmaceuticals has generated a deep pipeline of oncology assets. After conducting an exhaustive review of our development...

InterMune to chop 60 workers in wake of FDA’s rejection

Faced with a recent FDA demand for a new trial of its lung drug pirfenidone, InterMune has brought out the budget axe. The Brisbane, CA-based developer (ITMN) says it is cutting 40 percent of its workforce, or 60 people. It's a far cry from InterMune's preliminary plans to double or perhaps even triple its workforce if it won an approval. Now InterMune is projecting that the cuts can save the developer $12 million a year after taking a special charge of $2.4 million in the second quarter....

Quintiles lays off staffers in shift to emerging markets

The big CRO Quintiles laid off an unspecified number of workers late last week, acknowledging a "slight shift" of clinical trial work toward emerging markets. A company spokesperson declined to say just how many workers were pink slipped, but said it amounted to fewer than the number of open jobs it currently lists (about 350). Altogether Quintiles has about 20,000 workers in 60 countries, with 1,400 employed at its headquarters in Research Triangle Park....