2010 lay offs

U.S. predictions for PCD:

Philly will stop working on conventional small molecules and shift focus to Biotech crap (RTP will become sole US site focused on small molecule crap). So PCD UM/UP is going to be eliminated (re-engineered) - with a small fraction of staff re-assigned to Biotech crap.

All inhalation work in US is going to be cut - all work shifted to UK.

 

I'd heard only part of RTP to go and Harlow North.
Tonbo will (should) be on the Radar as well.
Keeping a site open for 100 odd folf doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me

 

Dermot briefing Tonbo at 12.
Thanks you and goodnight

 

I work at RTP (Chem Dev) and was supposed to be in a global TC this morning at 8AM (EST). I just checked my email via the internet, and our TC has been cancelled because Tonbridge and Verona are both having "All Hands" meetings ......

 

Tonbo shutting by close of 2010, no relocations, everyone surplus to R&D requirements.

 

I'm shutting Harlow.
Hope no one remembers how much I spent doing up my office there recently !

 

These proposals have been around for years already. Could be that they've dusted them off from old strategic proposals.

Hate to see what implications this round of downsizeing can have on good people. JB and minion have to contain their compulsion to drive the train. Despite what they are trying to say, it's still an important goal for many of them; I know them well. These people are getting paid to support making drugs, not promoting academic excellence, not
supporting egos. Few (if any) are all that good to deserve their overblown self-declared importance. All need a little humility. Also, there's too much involvement by HR in scientifically & strategically based business; poses as a crutch to many managers who don't know how to make decisions on their own, and artificially supports people who should not be there anyway.

Bring back some common sense, straight speaking, scientifically strong managers. Get rid of the attitude that everyone is their own boss who can do whatever they feel they should. This is how big mistakes are made that will ultimately lay a heavy cost to the entire corporation.

 

But what will we ever do if we don't EMPOWER every doofus coming down the pike. Oh...sorry I'm sure after FLLE is complete ALL will be experts in the Discovery and Development of drugs. Why can't you get into New Age, generation Y drug development?

 

...let's put on a show!

A talent show.

That's about the only idea that our great leader in PDG-RTP has...

 

So .... any predictions for more site decisions (i.e., the US sites) to be announced by Moncef on Friday?

So far, we've got Tonbridge, Verona, & Mississauga closing their R&D activities, part of Harlow shutting down, and two Eastern European sites closing (Poznan & Zagreb).

 

Regarding which GSK US site will be retained and which will be closed - - -

Firstly, I don't think either US site will be completely closed. I think the sites will become better differentiated, and certain divisions/functions may close at each site.

I suspect RTP will do ALL small molecule work and Philly will doBioTech work. There is a huge amount of cost savings that would be achieved by that specialization.

I don't think either site is big enough to handle everything at one location. (But that may change as we keep slicing and dicing.)

While I am certainly against lay-offs, no one at GSK could have looked at the worldwide 'map' of R&D centers and not agreed that it was incredibly inefficient to have the number of sites we had. We made it worse by constantly shifting things around from site to site.

On the face of things, it seems likely that if one US site is to be closed and one retained Philly would be the one retained. In fact, right after the SKB-GW merger, when it became evident that SKB was calling the shots, I assumed RTP was toast. The morale at RTP post SKB-GW merger has been terrible since the merger with everyone observing how one function after another was removed from RTP.

I've been amazed that GSK has retained two US R&D centers for this long. It has never made sense. (But then again, GSK had at least half-dozen R&D related sites surrounding London alone - all the legacy of the various ancestor companies.)

While, it is certainly possible (or equally likely) that Philly could be selected as the only US R&D site, over the last year here in PCD division, I think the winds have shifted to RTP's favor and I suspect that RTP would be retained as small molecule site. Over the last year or so Philly has become increasingly focused on Biotech and Philly was not selected to be an early development site I think today's announcements will accelerate that trend.

Recently at RTP it seems like we've been shedding all of the old BW buildings and have been retreating (shrinkage) back to the old Glaxo campus. I suspect that part of today's announcement will be to accelerate that trend of shutting down the satellites (Imperial Center, BW Main campus) and consolidate entirely on Glaxo Moore Drive campus. I don't think people from outside of RTP realized that RTP was really two or three sites (BW/Cornwallis site, Glaxo/Moore Drive site, Imperial/Venture site). So I'm guessing that in RTP we'll close the exBW site and consolidate on the exGlaxo/Moore Drive site. Unfortunately, I think Inhalation may get cut from RTP and sent to UK.

Similarily in Philly, the SKB site was really two (or three) sites UM, UP, (and Center City). I think a similar process will occur in Philly - consolidating on one either UM or UP campus.

I don't know, I'm just guessing. I don't want anyone to lose their job, but the GSK site issues should have been resolved during the GW-SKB merger. We wast too much time bouncing projects from site to site.

 

RTP & Philly waiting until March for their lay-offs

Just when you thought you survived the GSK lay-off axe this morning, Baldoni (gotta luv him) sends out a note (garbled as always) saying that PCD would announce additional efficiencies (facility closures and layoffs) in late March. At least for RTP, they've been developing plans for a year or so regarding consolidating staff in a fewer number of buildings - and they'll give us an update in March.

I thought they'd make those announcements today but no.

So Philly and RTP are in limbo for a while longer.

 

big drawback against RTP being main/exclusive PCD site: lack of ChemDev scale-up, UP clearly has RTP beat in that category

however, if new philosophy is to outsource more of ChemDev synthesis, then RTP could be have the upper hand since there would be big cost savings in closing UP pilot plant and outsourcing anything bigger than RTP pilot plant can make

have no idea which way its going - but I think the ChemDev scale-up situation is the wild card

 

Apparently, Moncef is visiting Tonbridge to offer tea and sympathy on Tuesday. I wonder how many of the staff will be arsed turning up to hear his waffle?

 

i wonder if antiviral cedd in rtp will get the axe

been years since they've come up with anything

i wonder if the ViiV deal was a precursor to getting out of HIV altogether

 

come t think of it, metabolic cedd in rtp has been pretty dismal as well

to be honest - although I don't want any layoffs - can't really blame 'em for making big cuts - based on productivity one (meaning NCEs that have made piles of money) rtp really has been a bust

 

Moncef holding meeting at UM Monday. Message sent out late Friday afternoon, marked Private (but everybody I know got one). I figure that they'll get us all in the Auditorium, hand out pink slips and escort us off site.

 

What time is the meeting at UM with Moncef?

 

So did the meeting go ahead, was it as conspiratorial as you thought??

UM/UP being biopharm makes sense since most of the secondment opportunities within Pharm Dev were for PA. Therefore many staff are already doing BioPharm. Along with no EDG group it makes sense to move work down to RTP for small molecule. Doesn`t matter where the CEDD is since the alignment is with GMS site and PA has no site (they were using CMO's which RTP could easily use along with Zebulon).

RTP covers all aspects of R&D from discovery to clinical whereas UM/UP and Rennaissance are need - three sites compared to one. In RTP there are no lay offs due to the consolidation of building, just cutting excess buildings so IPD moves to main campus, PACE to Zebulon allowing Crown to be closed (no job losses).

Now I could see IPD-RTP closing since they are no project based and it saves on MJ travelling by air all the time.

 

?no layoffs in RTP associated with RTP consolidation into fewer buildings?

I'm not sure about that.

Certainly before the last week's announced cuts in Canada/UK/Europe I was certain that RTP would have layoffs in conjunction with consolidation into fewer buildings at exGlaxo campus. The upcoming changes at RTP are also part of combining CD & PD analysts - definite cuts possible there. As well as combining/aligning EDG & CD particle sciences - s ome cuts possible there too.

Don't forget about the already announced (but not yet 'executed') decision to chop/sell CD-Solid Form Sciences in RTP. Isn't that lay-offs?

However, with PharmDev in Canada shutting down - that work has to go somewhere and RTP is likely choice. So impact on RTP may be a bit less severe than at other sites.

So who knows. But I can't imagine RTP PharmDev will completely dodge this bullet.