Pfizer has decided that it does not need the legacy distribution sites that it got with the $15 billion buyout of Hospira last year and so will close four facilities across the U.S., consolidating distribution into two Pfizer logistics centers next year. In the process it will whack 104 jobs.
A Pfizer spokeswoman said today a decision has been made to close “legacy Hospira logistics centers” in Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles and King of Prussia, PA, by Q2 next year. It will move distribution from those sites to Pfizer logistics centers in Memphis, TN, and Pleasant Prairie, WI.
“Pfizer has conducted a thorough evaluation of the combined distribution network and has decided to consolidate distribution operations into the Memphis Logistic Center and the Pleasant Prairie Logistics Center,” Kimberly A. Bencker said in an email today. “As a result, we have decided to consolidate the logistics centers to enable us to be more efficient, improve our overall effectiveness, reduce costs and, generally be better able to competitively supply our products to our customers.”
The closures will result in the loss of 40 jobs in Atlanta, 23 colleagues in Los Angeles, 22 in King of Prussia and 19 in Dallas, Bencker said.
This announcement comes a couple of months after Pfizer said about 100 jobs would be lost by 2019 when it closes a 50,000-square-foot Hospira manufacturing facility in Boulder, CO, that is underutilized.
Pfizer is already seeing significant upside from the buyout. In Q2 earnings released earlier this month, it reported that Hospira buyout helped drive an 11% revenue increase to $13.15 billion, beating analyst expectations. In fact, without the boost from the Hospira, sales at the company’s Essential Health unit–previously known by the “established products” name–would have slipped by 6%, or 3% without currency setbacks.
By Eric Palmer
Source: Fierce Pharma
A monkeypox outbreak is emerging in the U.S. and Europe, and at least one country is amping up countermeasure preparedness. Bavarian Nordic has secured a contract with an unnamed European country to supply its smallpox vaccine, called Imvanex in Europe, in response to the emergence of monkeypox cases, the Danish company said Thursday.
Moderna’s recent chief financial officer debacle—in which Jorge Gomez departed on his second day on the job—raised questions about the company’s hiring process given its rush to global biopharma prominence. The most obvious one: How was it possible for Gomez to be hired when he was under investigation by his previous employer, Dentsply Sirona of Charlotte, N.C.
Merck & Co. is plucking a cancer project from the branch of Chinese-based Kelun Pharmaceutical for up to $1.4 billion, but details from the New Jersey-based Big Pharma have been hard to come by. The deal, first disclosed Monday on the Shenzhen stock exchange, has Merck handing over $47 million in upfront cash in exchange for ex-China rights to a “macromolecular tumor project.”
