Novartis to cut more than 500 jobs in UK and Europe in research reorganisation
Will close sites in Horsham and Vienna and move cancer research from California to the Boston area
Novartis plans to close two sites in Europe, move staff from California to the Boston area in the US and cut more than 500 jobs as it consolidates its research operations.
The Swiss pharmaceutical firm plans to close research sites in Horsham, UK, cutting 371 jobs and exit research in topical applications for dermatology with the closure of its site in Vienna, Austria, with the loss of 23 jobs, the firm told Manufacturing Chemist.
The firm will also move cancer research from Emeryville, CA to Cambridge, MA and close its Biotherapeutics Development Unit in La Jolla, CA. This will mean the loss of 165 jobs in Emeryville and 31 in La Jolla.
Novartis employs more than 800 people in infectious disease research and blood diagnostics in Emeryville. Other research operations at The Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) in La Jolla, which employs more than 570 people, are not affected by this decision.
The firm said that 175 new positions 'will be opened in Cambridge to support oncology research and the new respiratory research group'.
'We are taking action to co-locate scientific resources in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our global research organisation,' Novartis said.
Separate from the research organisations, Novartis plans to cut sales jobs in Frimley, Surrey, UK, because it is ending marketing and sales support for products in diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the UK.
This could mean cutting its field-based workforce by 72 people.
