Millennium cuts R&D, manufacturing
jobs and wind down some of its manufacturing operations as it seeks
to reach profitability by 2006
One of the USA's leading biotechnology firms, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, has said that it plans to cut around 600 jobs and wind down some of its manufacturing operations as it seeks to reach profitability by 2006.
The company said that it will reduce its headcount by 26 per cent to 1,700 and refocus its resources on development and commercialisation, rather than drug discovery. Moreover, Millennium plans to cease R&D operations completely at its sites in South San Francisco, California, and Cambridge, UK, in order to bring all future development operations under one roof at its headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The reduction in the company's headcount will be achieved primarily through reductions in research, many in connection with early-stage discovery collaborations, and in general and administrative functions.
