5. Amgen - Top 5 layoffs of 2007

For years, the world's biggest biotech could do no wrong. Big, rich and influential, Amgen set the mold for what smaller biotechs hoped to imitate as they aspired to join Amgen as one of a handful of Big Biotech companies. But recently the biotech has looked more like an aging Big Pharma company as anemia drug sales have been hammered by safety concerns and older therapies face new competition.

Inevitably, Amgen did what was necessary. Plagued by falling sales [1] of its blockbuster anemia drugs Aranesp and Epogen, Amgen slashed about 14 percent of its workforce--up to 2,600 jobs--as part of a widespread restructuring aimed at slicing out a billion dollars in expenses. The restructuring includes closing of some facilities and reductions in various operating units. And much to Ireland's disappointment [2], Amgen said it would "postpone indefinitely" a planned €800 million manufacturing facility in County Cork as well.

- see Amgen's announcement [3] on the layoffs

Amgen Timeline:
Major challenges loom for Amgen. Report [4]
Amgen in crisis? Not us, says CEO Sharer. Report [5]
Amgen stock slips as anemia drug concerns rise. Report [1]
Report: Amgen looks at layoffs in restructuring. Report [6]
Amgen makes big workforce, budget cuts. Report [7]
Amgen layoffs: Good news for Ventura County? Report [8]
Amgen shelves Irish manufacturing facility plans. Report [2]