Merck to Fire 8,500 in Strategy Overhaul That Shifts R&D

[OhioChick]

Source: Bloomberg

Oct 1, 2013 8:13 AM ET

Merck & Co. (MRK), the second-biggest U.S. drugmaker by sales, will fire 8,500 workers and revamp its research and development after seeing new medicines delayed by U.S. regulators.

The positions eliminated are in addition to 7,500 job cuts Merck had already announced, the Whitehouse Station, New Jersey -based company said in a statement today. The firings now equal about 20 percent of the global workforce, and will cut across the entirety of Merck, including R&D, sales and management.

The overhaul, to save $1 billion next year, is part of a strategy being set by Chief Executive Officer Ken Frazier and R&D chief Roger Perlmutter, hired in April to replace Peter Kim. Under Kim, experimental drugs in cardiovascular, surgery, and osteoporosis suffered setbacks while rival drugmakers were able to get new products to market.

“While these actions are essential to ensure that Merck can continue to fulfill its mission into the future, they are nevertheless difficult decisions,” Frazier said in the statement.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-01/merck-top-scientist-plans-major-changes-for-drug-research.html

[kelliekat44]

1. They just can't make enough money. Their is no limit to their greed. nt

[warrant46]

7. More job creation for the masses

[hunter]

2. Imagine if government funded medical research was some large fraction of our current defense budget.

Then when new drugs, procedures, etc., were discovered they would be released to the world in free journals and free of patents or any other encumbrance. Maybe we discover botanicals that work better than any expensive pill, maybe we discover simple inexpensive ways of preventing diseases that are expensive to treat.

Imagine if we were spending our tax money in ways that made the U.S.A. friends worldwide, not enemies. Imagine medical research directed toward the greater need, rather than the greater private market profits.

Sigh.

[groundloop]

3. Damnit hunter.... you had me feeling good about the world for a minute or so

Then it dawned on me, that'll never happen in my lifetime because we're ruled by greed.

[srican69]

4. Summit NJ is right next to where I live ..

wonder what a scientist can retrain as ?

This is so terrible

[Safetykitten]

6. Look for deals on houses in Somerset and Hunterdon counties.

[karynnj]

8. There are many other biomed companies in the area

I assume that there will not be enough jobs to absorb all these people, but this is an area with a very large scientific, technological work force. Consider how many people were once employed just by the various Bell Labs locations there. Some went to other local companies, some moved to other states.

This is really bad news for NJ, which has been slower than other states in coming back from the crash in 2008.

(I worked near Summit - in Murray Hill and then Florham Park - long ago.)

[LittleGirl]

5. wow eom

[Beacool]

9. They have been laying-off for years.

I know someone who is a biochemist with them and has worked there for more than 25 years. She has survived previous lay-offs. I hope that she survives this one too.