Specialty drug group Par Pharmaceutical Companies— which is comprised of generics division Par Pharmaceutical and proprietary products branch Strativa Pharmaceuticals—has announced the restructuring of its branded division, Strativa, by way of axing 100 sales operations staff from the overall headcount of more than 680 employees.
The cuts, which account for nearly 15% of the company’s combined workforce, have been implemented as part of a “strategic assessment” which the company hopes will “position Strativa to achieve profitability in the near term,” according to a statement released by the company.
“To achieve our goal of optimizing Strativa’s potential, we found it necessary to reduce the number of sales representatives and focus on Megace ES and Nascobal at this time,” said, Patrick LePore, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Par Pharmaceutical Companies, in a statement. “We remain fully committed to the branded business and believe it is a valuable platform for future growth.”
In addition to severance costs, Par Pharmaceutical Companies will incur one-time non-cash charges in Q2 2011.
The company estimates that collectively, these actions will result in operating expense savings in the realm of $8-12 million for the remainder of the year, thereby allowing Par to focus on its generic drugs unit, in addition to Strativa’s Megace ES, indicated for the treatment of appetite loss and malnutrition, and Nascobal (pictured below), a vitamin B12 nasal spray, products.
These cuts add to what have become a string of recent changes from within the company’s internal operations and its executive leadership, which began late last year. Former Strativa CEO John MacPhee resigned in December 2010, taking his exit from Par this past January. LePore, who previously held the position of EVP, Par Pharmaceutical Companies and president, Par Pharmaceutical, has since stepped in to run Strativa’s day to day operations.
From the August 01, 2011 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media
