The big CRO Parexel outlined plans to restructure its early-stage research efforts last month, offering a big-picture effort to cut back by 30 percent. Now the axe is falling on all nine of its early-phase sites as Parexel follows through by closing four of the facilities and downsizing all of the rest, cutting 300 jobs in the process. The restructuring will eliminate 28 percent of its beds, reports Outsourcing-Pharma, which keeps a close ear to the ground on all things CRO related.
Parexel is hoping that by cutting its excess capacity it can help eliminate some of the deep discounting that has taken place as CROs scramble for business. "We believe that a critical reanalysis of study design is leading to more complex but streamlined development approaches," COO Mark Goldberg told an investor crowd recently, as reported by Outsourcing-Pharma.
Parexel brought out the budget axe after reporting a shortfall in early-phase revenue in early May. That news triggered a painful 22 percent drop in its share price and set the stage for the restructuring effort. But the big CRO has been expanding in other areas, adding jobs in its Clinical Research Services operations and recently inking a strategic pact with Pfizer.
- here's the story from Outsourcing-Pharma