Wyeth restructures R&D, narrows focus

Wyeth announced it will be restructuring its research and development in an effort to get innovative treatments to market faster, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Although the company will maintain its current level of R&D spending, the plan calls for reverting those resources to fewer areas. The company will cut its therapeutic areas from 14 to six, and number of diseases the company will focus on down to 27, from 55. Wyeth will continue to focus on biologics and vaccines, as well as pursue medicines in oncology and for diseases of the brain. Drugs currently in clinical development will not be discontinued, Wyeth rep Michael Lampe tells us.

So what's being eliminated? According to the WSJ, Wyeth will cut research on women's health, although it will continue to pursue conditions such as osteoporosis and breast cancer under different therapeutic areas.

Wyeth's latest move is one part of the company's larger plan, dubbed Project Impact, to boost efficiency in reaching market with innovative medicines, as well as a response to regulatory agencies' higher bar for approving new medicines, Evan Loh, Wyeth's vice president of multiple therapeutic areas and one of the architects of the initiative, told WSJ.

What does this mean for Wyeth researchers? Overall, the number of scientific jobs won't change, but there will be layoffs--primarily for those whose skills are not transferable to other areas, the company said. 

- check out the WSJ article [1] for more

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