Pfizer's new look and R&D shake-up

Pfizer R&D shake-up

New York-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, less than a month after the finalisation of the $68 billion acquisition of rival firm Wyeth, has announced a major restructuring of its R&D operations.

The shake-up - though expected as part of the merging of the two pharma giants - will see the closure of six facilities across the globe, sparking concern among employees about the security of their jobs.

According to reports, Pfizer will now move a number of functions from Collegeville, Pennsylvania, Pearl River, New York and St Louis to other locations and will discontinue R&D operations in Princeton, New Jersey, Chazy, Rouses Point and Plattsburgh, New York, Sanford and Research Triangle Park, North Carolina and Gosport, Slough/Taplow in the UK. Further to this Pfizer has announced plans to consolidate R&D functions from its New London, Connecticut site to a nearby research facility in Groton.

Specialised units

As a result of the Wyeth acquisition, the new pharmaceutical company currently has 20 R&D plants across the globe, but the shake-up will see Pfizer's R&D activities be reduced to five main sites and nine specialised units instead.

Pfizer R&D will now be centralised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Groton and Pearl River sites, La Jolla, California and Sandwich, UK. Pfizer commented that these facilities would be supplemented by "specialised research capabilities," such as monoclonal antibody discovery in San Francisco, regenerative medicine work in Cambridge, UK and R&D activities in Shanghai, China.

President of the new pharmatherapeutics R&D division, Martin Mackay, said that "in less than a month, we have made complex business decisions" needed to combine Pfizer and Wyeth’s research organisations "thoughtfully yet quickly."

For employees, the future remains unwritten, but details are set to emerge in the coming weeks.

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