Woodcliff Lake, NJ-based Par Pharmaceutical Companies announced that it will slash approximately 190 positions — 30% of them in manufacturing, R&D, and general and administrative — by the end of 2008, and the remaining positions by the end of the first half of 2009.
The move is part of a strategic resizing of the company’s generic unit. Par officials expect the initiative to put the company on course to more effectively optimize its current product portfolio and its pipeline of products.
In addition, Par will significantly reduce its research and development (R&D) expenses by decreasing its internal R&D effort to focus on completing products currently in development and will continue to look for opportunities with external partners. Par will trim its current generic product portfolio retaining only those marketed products that deliver acceptable profit to Par.
Patrick G. LePore, Par’s chairman, CEO and president said that after careful examination of Par’s businesses, the company concluded that to improve profitability, they needed to align the company’s cost structure with the size of its operations and development pipeline.
LePore noted that over the past several years, Par’s generic R&D investment has yielded the company a very promising pipeline of current and future products. He said that those assets combined with a smaller, more profitable base business should generate significant cash over the next several years, improving Par’s ability to accelerate its investment in Strativa Pharmaceuticals.
AMDL based in Tustin, CA, will expand its current sales force as part of a restructuring of its business into three distinct divisions. The change is designed to better reflect the company’s operational focus on becoming a world-class, diversified pharmaceutical company.
The new divisions include an In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) division specifically focused on accelerating AMDL’s market launch for the AMDL-ELISA DR-70 (FDP) cancer test; a Cancer Therapeutics division specifically focused on accelerating research for its Combination Immunogene Therapy (CIT) technology; and a China-based Integrated Pharmaceuticals division focused on the continued manufacturing, sales and distribution of AMDL’s broad range of generic, specialty and branded pharmaceutical products.
AMDL will continue to execute its 2008 business plan with a focus on achieving its stated financial target of a 100% increase in sales over 2007.
Under the new operational structure, AMDL will work to: establish the IVD division for DR-70 with a structural platform for funding the division through a potential joint-venture partnership(s) or selling the division as a stand-alone business; establish the Cancer Therapeutics division with a structural platform for funding the division through a potential joint-venture partnership(s) or selling the division as a stand-alone business; continue accelerating the manufacturing, sales & marketing of AMDL’s diverse china-based pharmaceutical product portfolio through the Integrated Pharmaceuticals division; and Leverage AMDL’s current assets and resources to drive future growth.
Schwarz Pharma Manufacturing announced a $12 million expansion of its Seymour manufacturing plant and distribution center, a move that’s expected to increase the company’s employment in the southern Indiana city from 366 to 516 by 2011. A unit of Schwarz Pharma AG of Monheim, Germany, Schwarz Pharma Manufacturing plans to hire managers, business associates and production staff later this month.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. is providing Schwarz up to $1.25 million in performance-based tax credits and up to $310,000 in training grants. The city of Seymour will provide property tax abatement. Schwarz’ Seymour facility spans 280,000 square feet of space and handles manufacturing for all the company’s products sold in the US, including Univasc, a blood pressure medication.
