NEW YORK — The drugmaker Merck & Co. said Monday that it will cut about 7,000 jobs, or 11 percent of its work force, by the end of 2008 and will close or sell five of its 31 manufacturing plants in moves that it says will save up to $4 billion.
Merck said about half of its planned job cuts will be in the United States.
Insiders' view: Let's hope and prey that this as much as is needed to restructure Mother Merck and bring her back to health. Whilst Insider is scathing of Big Pharma (especially its management), he is supportive of individuals and wishes all those in distress today both courage and strength.
Insider suspects that these changes might not be quite enough to turn Merck around. It all depends upon Mercks strategy to overcome Big Pharmas' Big Problem .
Insider notes, significantly, that one goal of the plan is to streamline processes so it can bring new drugs to market faster. The company said it will establish dedicated commercialization facilities that will support drugs from late-stage clinical trials to the launch phase with a goal of cutting up to 15 months from the time it takes to develop factory processes.
Also, more cuts may be on the way. Merck themselves described Monday's announcement as the "initial phase" of a cost-cutting program, and Chief Executive Richard Clark said that "we still have work to do."
Hard times.
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