A Jilted Shire Exec, Age Discrimination And A Federal Probe?

Was the head of regenerative medicine at Shire Pharmaceuticals fooled into accepting a promotion? Jeff Jonas claims in a lawsuit that the biotech failed to disclose the unit faced declining sales, a probe by the feds into illegal marketing and that a new Shire ceo was about to be named right after he began his new job. Had he known all this, Jones maintains he would have instead taken another job offer. The mess began last fall, when Jonas approached former Shire ceo Angus Russell about his desire for a position with added responsibilities since he was being offered such opportunity elsewhere. And so, last November he was named president of regenerative medicine and moved from Philadelphia to San Diego, where the unit was based, according to the lawsuit. He did so after receiving assurances that his position would be secure under newly named Shire ceo Flemming Ornskov and his skills were “urgently” needed. By early this year, however, he claims to have smelled a rat. For one, Ornskov allegedly began overhauling senior management and executives who were over 40 years old were being told they did not have “enough runway” to be offered promotions. Moreover, Jonas claims to have belatedly learned that the US Department of Justice was investigating the unit, which was once Advanced Biohealing, a company that Shire had purchased in 2011. Its primary product was Dermagraft, which is used to treat diabetic foot ulcers. The feds were probing sales and marketing activities befo...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs