Pfizer quick with sword

Pennsylvania and New Jersey fared less well than Indiana in manufacturing plant rescues last week.

Bloomberg reports that Pfizer will close three Wyeth buildings in the Keystone State and its own Bridgewater, NJ, technology manufacturing center, which employs 300 manufacturing and process development employees, but will spare the Wyeth corporate HQ in Madison. The action comes quick on the heels of the acquisition just completed.

Pfizer said in January that it planned to eliminate 19,000 positions, or 15 percent of the combined company's workforce, in cuts that have already begun. The pharma giant itself cut 5,400 jobs in the first half of the year, leaving it with 76,500 employees. Wyeth also has been cutting.

More such announcements are expected in the next six month, according to an industry report. Pfizer is looking for $4 billion in savings by 2011 from "plant and program rationalization," on top of ongoing restructuring efforts with $2 billion in expected savings.

To the relief of the remaining manufacturing units, the Pfizer focus now shifts to R&D. Announcements are expected in the coming two months.

- see the Bloomberg report
- here's the industry report

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