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GlobeSt.com UPDATE: Merck Details Initial Plant Shutdowns
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: December 1, 2005 08:16am
(To read more on the industrial market, click here.)
WHITEHOUSE STATION, NJ-Pharmaceutical giant Merck announced earlier this week that it would close five plants and axe 7,000 employees, 11% of its work force, over the next three years in order to save up to $4 billion. Employees at four plants have already gotten the word, and it involves closing three of the four plants and cutting nearly 1,300 jobs.
According to published reports, the affected plants are located in Rahway, NJ; Danville, PA; Albany, GA; and Kirkland, Quebec. A spokesman for Merck confirmed the internal announcements and the information, but would not comment further.
The largest of the closures, as confirmed by the spokesman, will be the company’s Cherokee plant in Danville, PA. The plant, which makes bulk ingredients for the company’s finished products, has been in operation for 50 years, and the closure will result in the loss of 430 jobs.
The second closure, involving 350 jobs, is Merck’s Flint River plant in Albany, GA, which makes such products as Zocor, the cholesterol-lowering drug. According to a published report, Merck is already talking to some of the plant’s suppliers about a possible sale of the plant, but company officials would not confirm that.
The third closure will be the company’s plant in Kirkland, near Montreal, which makes such products as Zocor, as well as Fosamax and Vioxx. Operated by the company’s Merck Frosst division, the plant will be closed with a loss of 235 jobs. All three of the plants the company is shedding will either be sold “as-is” in operating condition to compatible users or closed and put on the market for general sale, according to company officials.
Least affected by this initial round of cutbacks is the company’s sprawling R&D and manufacturing complex in Rahway, NJ. The complex will remain in operation, and the cutbacks will involve 250 manufacturing positions. The bulk of the Rahway plant’s 4,300 employees are scientists and researchers.
The personnel cuts leave about 5,700 more to be determined, as well as one more plant closure among Merck’s 31 facilities around the world. The spokesman would not comment on further cuts.
In a prepared statement announcing the restructuring this week, company president/CEO Richard T. Clark termed the moves “an important first step in positioning Merck to meet the challenges it faces now and in the future. We are engaged in an ongoing effort to enhance efficiencies throughout the company and improve the way we discover, develop, manufacture and market our medicines and vaccines. We also plan to pursue improved approaches to R&D, marketing and sales.”
GlobeSt.com UPDATE: Merck Details Initial Plant Shutdowns
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: December 1, 2005 08:16am
(To read more on the industrial market, click here.)
WHITEHOUSE STATION, NJ-Pharmaceutical giant Merck announced earlier this week that it would close five plants and axe 7,000 employees, 11% of its work force, over the next three years in order to save up to $4 billion. Employees at four plants have already gotten the word, and it involves closing three of the four plants and cutting nearly 1,300 jobs.
According to published reports, the affected plants are located in Rahway, NJ; Danville, PA; Albany, GA; and Kirkland, Quebec. A spokesman for Merck confirmed the internal announcements and the information, but would not comment further.
The largest of the closures, as confirmed by the spokesman, will be the company’s Cherokee plant in Danville, PA. The plant, which makes bulk ingredients for the company’s finished products, has been in operation for 50 years, and the closure will result in the loss of 430 jobs.
The second closure, involving 350 jobs, is Merck’s Flint River plant in Albany, GA, which makes such products as Zocor, the cholesterol-lowering drug. According to a published report, Merck is already talking to some of the plant’s suppliers about a possible sale of the plant, but company officials would not confirm that.
The third closure will be the company’s plant in Kirkland, near Montreal, which makes such products as Zocor, as well as Fosamax and Vioxx. Operated by the company’s Merck Frosst division, the plant will be closed with a loss of 235 jobs. All three of the plants the company is shedding will either be sold “as-is” in operating condition to compatible users or closed and put on the market for general sale, according to company officials.
Least affected by this initial round of cutbacks is the company’s sprawling R&D and manufacturing complex in Rahway, NJ. The complex will remain in operation, and the cutbacks will involve 250 manufacturing positions. The bulk of the Rahway plant’s 4,300 employees are scientists and researchers.
The personnel cuts leave about 5,700 more to be determined, as well as one more plant closure among Merck’s 31 facilities around the world. The spokesman would not comment on further cuts.
In a prepared statement announcing the restructuring this week, company president/CEO Richard T. Clark termed the moves “an important first step in positioning Merck to meet the challenges it faces now and in the future. We are engaged in an ongoing effort to enhance efficiencies throughout the company and improve the way we discover, develop, manufacture and market our medicines and vaccines. We also plan to pursue improved approaches to R&D, marketing and sales.”
posted by Jones Lang LaSalle NJ News Blog at 5:23 PM
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