The AbbVie Culture Change Continues: 100 Scientists Will Be Laid Off

Less than a month after AbbVie quietly disclosed that its chief scientific officer is unexpectedly retiring (see this), the drugmaker is now shaking up R&D and will layoff approximately 100 scientists from its pain discovery program in neuroscience, according to sources. And an AbbVie spokesman confirmed the move. The R&D changes, which the spokesman says will also involve adding some 90 jobs in such therapeutic categories as dermatology, gastroenterology and renal, are part of a larger transformation that AbbVie is undergoing after being split off earlier this from Abbott Laboratories (ABT). Faced with patent expirations on big-selling cholesterol medicines, the drugmaker is laying off hundreds of sales reps (back story). The TriCor pill, which generated nearly $1.4 billion in sales last year, recently lost patent protection and Niaspan, which notched $976 million in 2012 sales, faces generic rivals in a few months. The various moves reflect the challenges with which AbbVie ceo Rick Gonzalez was saddled as a result of the spin-off. Although dubbed as a research-based pharma unit for investor consumption, the drugmaker has portfolio issues that extend beyond its aging cholesterol franchise. Notably, AbbVie (ABBV) is also dependent on the Humira rheumatoid arthritis treatment, an $8 billion-a-year seller with a 2016 patent expiration. To what extent continued sales growth is assured is unclear. The treatment is a complex biologic, suggesting a biosimilar will not appea...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs