sites that will close

All I know is this. Pfizer can only close the deal on the Friday of month end. So if there is any delay in September month end then it would move to October and so on. Most likely will be September or October. When this occurs, they want all new Pfizer signs replacing all Wyeth signs on the buildings to change over that weekend.

Now I have noticed where I am that a big new concrete pad was placed near our Wyeth sign, to me it looks like the location for a new Pfizer sign. So if your site has not had any recent activity around the entrance you may need to worry some about your site.

Originally Posted by Anonymous

All I know is this. Pfizer can only close the deal on the Friday of month end. So if there is any delay in September month end then it would move to October and so on. Most likely will be September or October. When this occurs, they want all new Pfizer signs replacing all Wyeth signs on the buildings to change over that weekend.

Now I have noticed where I am that a big new concrete pad was placed near our Wyeth sign, to me it looks like the location for a new Pfizer sign. So if your site has not had any recent activity around the entrance you may need to worry some about your site.

OMG employees will be out of control if this pig drags on until the end of October (or worse!).
Already no one in the field is really working. We are going through the motions, and even the hard core managers are starting to just fill their calendars with busy work, thinking they can bide their time until the end. Sounds like the person who said September 25 on another thread may have been onto something.

Originally Posted by Anonymous

All I know is this. Pfizer can only close the deal on the Friday of month end. So if there is any delay in September month end then it would move to October and so on. Most likely will be September or October. When this occurs, they want all new Pfizer signs replacing all Wyeth signs on the buildings to change over that weekend.

Now I have noticed where I am that a big new concrete pad was placed near our Wyeth sign, to me it looks like the location for a new Pfizer sign. So if your site has not had any recent activity around the entrance you may need to worry some about your site.

Some Wyeth sites have signs only on the buildings. Unfortunately, I don't think those sites will be able to tell anything ahead of time.

Originally Posted by Anonymous

Some Wyeth sites have signs only on the buildings. Unfortunately, I don't think those sites will be able to tell anything ahead of time.

Ex Warner-Lambert here...Pfizer only kept the manufacturing sites that they absolutely needed....They closed all HQ operations, regional sales offices, etc. 95% of the colleagues took a package or found another job...Wish the news was better for Wyeth folks...

Originally Posted by Anonymous

Ex Warner-Lambert here...Pfizer only kept the manufacturing sites that they absolutely needed....They closed all HQ operations, regional sales offices, etc. 95% of the colleagues took a package or found another job...Wish the news was better for Wyeth folks...

Its funny. Wyeth research tends to believe that Pfizer bought us for our biologics capability. But the cynic in me believes that this applies to the already commercial products and the late development pipeline. I do not believe that this applies to research. I think that the discovery scientists have been keeping false hope. And the early rumors I'm hearing seem to be bearing this out.

Keeping Dolsten was the master stroke that kept the false hope alive. I like Dolsten a lot, but feel that he's just being used for the transition, and he will be forced out within 3 years, after the transition is complete. It makes sense.

A leopard does not change his spots. The WL and Pharmacia should have been the cue for a mass exodus, because in the end, the WL and Pharmacia employees got screwed.

I really hope that my friends don't take a transfer. Because previous acquisitions have shown that employees who took the transfer were the first in line for subsequent layoffs.

past is prologue.

I'm on the commercial side and I also share your sentiments. Geno Germano being brought over to Pfizer was just a deft move to give false hope and keep the commercial operation focused as long as they could. Personally, I don't think Geno last over 18 months, if that.

#1. No one knows when the deal will close -- Pfizer does not have to wait for the end of a month, although it would make it easier from an accounting perspective. The contract calls for a minimum of 5 days notice to Wyeth that the deal will close, but it can be longer than 5 days if necessary.

#2. I have heard that China's regulatory agency is the hold-up. It is nothing that either Pfizer or Wyeth can control

#3. When the deal closes we still may not know for sure which sites will stay open and which won't. The Collegeville facilities staff was told to expect the status quo for at least the first 100 days and announcements about specific sites will come over time, but probalby not before close to the end of the first 100 days post-close.

#4. Don't count on anything being like it was for the Warner-Lambert or Pharmacia closings. The meetings between Pfizer and Wyeth have had VERY different tones, and if they are only going to cut about 15% of the total new companies total work force, they have to be keeping a lot of Wyeth employees. In addition, a number of Wyeth approaches have been accepted as "best practices", so they need us. The key is that there is different leadership of Pfizer now than when those other deals closed.

Don't let the hype of this site get to you.

Originally Posted by Anonymous

#1. No one knows when the deal will close -- Pfizer does not have to wait for the end of a month, although it would make it easier from an accounting perspective. The contract calls for a minimum of 5 days notice to Wyeth that the deal will close, but it can be longer than 5 days if necessary.

#2. I have heard that China's regulatory agency is the hold-up. It is nothing that either Pfizer or Wyeth can control

#3. When the deal closes we still may not know for sure which sites will stay open and which won't. The Collegeville facilities staff was told to expect the status quo for at least the first 100 days and announcements about specific sites will come over time, but probalby not before close to the end of the first 100 days post-close.

#4. Don't count on anything being like it was for the Warner-Lambert or Pharmacia closings. The meetings between Pfizer and Wyeth have had VERY different tones, and if they are only going to cut about 15% of the total new companies total work force, they have to be keeping a lot of Wyeth employees. In addition, a number of Wyeth approaches have been accepted as "best practices", so they need us. The key is that there is different leadership of Pfizer now than when those other deals closed.

Don't let the hype of this site get to you.

Good post. Let's be clear, though. While they may be cutting only 15% of the Wyeth work force, the majority of cuts will come from the sales force. If you work in CV, GV, etc., you may have a much better chance of staying, at least through the first year of transition.

Don't forget Fort Dodge sites need to be sold before the deal can close!!

Originally Posted by Anonymous

Good post. Let's be clear, though. While they may be cutting only 15% of the Wyeth work force, the majority of cuts will come from the sales force. If you work in CV, GV, etc., you may have a much better chance of staying, at least through the first year of transition.

If they cut 2000 out of the 2300 in sales, then Pfizer still has to lay off 9000 other people from Wyeth. When the acquisition was first announced, an analyst said that Pfizer would have to cut 70% of Wyeth's R&D to make the numbers work. I think that guy was very accurate. Wyeths R&D head count is 6000 and 70% of that is 4200. Added with the sales force, they'd still need to find 6000 other people.

And according to the article about the Wyeth workers in the Phillipines, during the 30 day go live date, site closures and reorganizations will be announced. That doesn't agree with the notion that nothing will happen in the first 100 days.

Remember that the lesson JK learned from previous acquisitions is that they moved too slowly. I think they'll do everything as fast as possible.

I do believe the layoffs will take time, only because it takes a lot of HR paperwork to layoff large numbers of people. When they closed Ann Arbor, it took several months to complete the layoffs (they had to do it in small increments).

Originally Posted by Anonymous

#

#4. Don't count on anything being like it was for the Warner-Lambert or Pharmacia closings. The meetings between Pfizer and Wyeth have had VERY different tones, and if they are only going to cut about 15% of the total new companies total work force, they have to be keeping a lot of Wyeth employees. In addition, a number of Wyeth approaches have been accepted as "best practices", so they need us. The key is that there is different leadership of Pfizer now than when those other deals closed.

The problem with the whole "15%" talk is that over the past 5 years, Pfizer has let go of 40,000 of their own employees. So if the the cut is 15%. What's to keep the Wyeth survivors from being let go a year or two later?

Those who fail to learn from history tend to repeat it. Pfizer hasn't learned a thing from it's previous mergers and the Wyeth employees that aren't looking to leave haven't learned anything from Pfizer's merger history.

Collegeville Research Nerd

Originally Posted by Anonymous

The problem with the whole "15%" talk is that over the past 5 years, Pfizer has let go of 40,000 of their own employees. So if the the cut is 15%. What's to keep the Wyeth survivors from being let go a year or two later?

Those who fail to learn from history tend to repeat it. Pfizer hasn't learned a thing from it's previous mergers and the Wyeth employees that aren't looking to leave haven't learned anything from Pfizer's merger history.

Collegeville Research Nerd

I agree. I believe the ultimate layoff numbers will be closer to 30,000, maybe even 40,000. The later layoffs will take time, because those are likely to be all of the manufacturing for over the counter products, and vitamins, and small molecule drugs. Perhaps in 3 to 5 years, they'll move manufacturing for things like biologics (to their new Swedish facility or Grange Castle). Manufacturing always take longer to move, especially for biologics.

Pfizer's goal will be to get to the headcount they had before Wyeth.

After reading the last few posts, post #7 sounds more and more like spin from the top. I don't think this merger is going to be much different from those of the past, other than it will move a lot faster.

Originally Posted by Anonymous

After reading the last few posts, post #7 sounds more and more like spin from the top. I don't think this merger is going to be much different from those of the past, other than it will move a lot faster.

ITA. The only difference is that the layoffs, especially on the commercial side and sales, will come much quicker than previous Pfizer acquisitions.

From poster#7

"In addition, a number of Wyeth approaches have been accepted as "best practices", so they need us. The key is that there is different leadership of Pfizer now than when those other deals closed."

I worked for W/L and was one of the last colleauges to leave at the very end of the transition. We had best practices in several areas, especially in IT, contracting and the entire structure for managed markets. Pfizer was interested in NONE of our best practices, even after the successful launch of Lipitor.....VP's were gone Day 1. They tortured me for 7 months, before I locked the door at the Parsippany office...I feel bad for you guys...It sucks....