Bristol-Myers Squibb to Lay Off 100 in Discovery, Move 200 Workers to New Cambridge R&D Hub
June 25, 2015
By Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Sr. Editor
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company will relocate hundreds of workers to a new central research hub in Cambridge, Mass. which will open in 2018, the company told BioSpace Thursday, while laying off 100 workers from its discovery staff, primarily in Connecticut.
"One hundred positions will be eliminated as a result of the Discovery virology research decision," spokeswoman Sarah Koenig told BioSpace. "Those employees are primarily based in our Wallingford, Conn. office. We expect to discontinue the work in Discovery virology by the end of 2015."
The company said it will eventually ramp up hiring in the Bay Area as it completes its expansion of its Woodside Technology Park campus in 2016 and will relocate around 40 scientists from its Seattle, Wash site.
The workers set to be laid off via the virology cuts are primarily focused on researching diseases such as hepatitis B and HIV.
Bristol made the announcement as it rolled out a new plan for global hubs worldwide. The new 100 Binney Street site will focus almost solely on its R&D operations. BMY said in a statement it would move as many as 200 workers from its sites in Waltham, Mass. and Wallingford, Conn., and would close the Waltham site in 2018.
Bristol also said it would turn its attention to the nation’s other booming biotech hub and would greatly increase its research unit in San Francisco, where it plans to focus on immuno-oncology.
“In addition to investments in central New Jersey, our new location in Cambridge and our expanding presence in the San Francisco Bay Area positions the company and our scientists in the heart of vibrant ecosystems of world class science, innovation and business opportunities, which offer ideal environments for fostering external collaboration,” said Francis Cuss, executive vice president and chief scientific officer, Bristol-Myers Squibb.
“Ultimately, our goal is to continue to accelerate the translation of scientific knowledge and insights into the next wave of potentially transformational medicines for patients with serious diseases.”
BMY will add new leased footage to its Woodside Technology Park life science campus in the Bay Area, eventually occupying two of the three buildings there for a total of 194,100 square feet. That space will allow it to conduct biologics drug discovery research with the expansion slated for completion in 2016.
As Rumors Swirl About GlaxoSmithKline Bid, Who Could Suitors Be?
Rumors are swirling that Swiss-based Roche and U.S.-based Johnson & Johnson are eying the U.K. company for approximately $143 billion. But Roche and J&J aren’t the only companies though who have been thought could go after the elephant that is Glaxo.
Last month there was buzz that Pfizer Inc. was considering acquiring Glaxo, a year after it failed to acquire AstraZeneca PLC . Just this month over a third of respondents in a poll conducted by BioSpace believe that AstraZeneca PLC could be in the running to acquire struggling GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
So BioSpace wants to ask our readers again what they predict for this new dealmaking bonanza. Will Glaxo go—and if so, to whom?