Another Day, Another Round Of Layoffs
1 CommentBy Ed Silverman // August 5th, 2008 // 11:45 am
Yesterday, we noted that both Lilly and Glaxo are shedding still more jobs. Today, we have a couple of examples among much smaller players that are cutting back.
First, Acadia Pharmaceuticals disclosed plans to reduce its workforce to 65 employees, down from 143 at the end of last year, as part of an effort to focus on just a few late-stage drug candidates. Here is the statement from the California company. And across the country, Pharmacopeia has cut about 40 percent of its workforce, which numbered 150 and now stands at 86, according to a spokeswoman for the New Jersey drugmaker.
Jeffrey Clark, CEO of Beaker.com - The Online Community for Life Sciences Professionals
This trend has certainly been verified in the past few months, as companies look to run more lean during this downturn in the economy.
Many will say: “But life sciences is a defensive sector!”. The fact remains that their is a cloud of uncertainty over the industry that is seeded with variables far beyond the troubled economy. As a result, many CEO’s are choosing to cut their operating expenses and preach efficiency until all this uncertainty gives way to a clearer path forward.
One very interesting caveat: the majority of announcements & cutbacks are coming from the pharmaceutical & biotechnology industry and less from the medical device & diagnostic manufacturers. This verifies that the problem is not just economic but also specific to the travails of the industry, as it continues to try & reinvent itself.