On Monday, Novartis announced that it will lay off 215 support staff employees, nearly all from its East Hanover, NJ headquarters.
The layoffs are related to the drugmaker's company-wide reorganization announced in January, which is aimed at freeing up resources and prioritizing in order to support the launch of new products. The reorg may also involve the sale of at least one of the drugmaker's three sub-scale units - animal health, vaccines and over-the-counter medicines.
This past January, Novartis also announced plans to shut its factory in Suffern, New York -- the facility that makes heart drug Diovan and malaria treatment Coartem -- as part of a productivity review, which affected approximately 525 jobs. Prior to that decision, Novartis had also announced the cutting of 500 support jobs in Switzerland, as part of an overall effort to prepare for declining sales of Diovan.
The NJ layoffs will be affective as of June 30, while the global review is due to be completed by the end of the summer.
Read the NJ Star Ledger article