Lilly, Pfizer announce manufacturing cuts

Some 140 workers are vying for 90 positions at Imclone following the closure of a New Jersey plant. The Eli Lilly unit makes the cancer treatment Erbitux.

A local press report says the company is giving priority to those displaced by the closure over internal and external candidates, given appropriate qualifications. Those who don't wind up in the available positions will be offered severance packages, according to in-Pharma Technologist. 

For once, the plant closure is not part of a restructuring effort, as was the case with Eli Lilly earlier this year. The pharma giant says the age of the plant is a factor in its closing. And it's situated on a campus that houses a biologics manufacturing facility ready to pick up the slack.

Nonetheless, Lilly said last fall that it would reduce its global manufacturing workforce by around 5,000 employees to cut costs.

Separately, Pfizer has notified New York officials that it plans to lay off 115 workers at its Pearl River plant, effective mid-December. Some of the layoffs are part of the 600 previously announced. This action is part of a global restructuring following Pfizer's Wyeth acquisition.

- here's the in-Pharma Technologist article
- read the local report
- see the Pfizer layoff article

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