biotech jobs

Survey ranks top biotech, biopharma employers

Calisha Myers — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:35:33 -0400

Science announced the results of its annual Top Employers survey. After placing second last year, Genentech once again claimed the top spot for the sixth year. Missouri-based Monsanto climbed six spots to come in at number two this year, with Genzyme rounding out the top three.

The annual web-based survey, now in its seventh year, polls employees of biotech, biopharma and pharmaceutical companies, as well as related industries. Respondents rate companies on 23 factors, which include work culture, innovation, financial strength and ability to adapt to change.

Although the majority of respondents were North American employees, a number of companies with headquarters elsewhere made the list. The top 10 were rounded out by:

Boehringer Ingelheim (Germany)
Schering-Plough
Roche (Switzerland)
EMD Serono
Millenium: The Takeda Oncology Company
Gilead Sciences
Eli Lilly

- read the Science release
- here's the complete top 20 list (.pdf)
- check out the article for what the CEOs had to say

Drug researcher: Hard times ahead for drug discovery

John Carroll — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:02:01 -0400

Drug researcher and blogger Derek Lowe has some interesting thoughts on the future of drug discovery. With the easiest types of research projects headed overseas, U.S. researchers will be left to deal with the toughest jobs. And those jobs are increasingly being handled by smaller, risk-taking discovery companies. Big Pharma, meanwhile, is laying off more and more researchers as it continues to play it safe. And life won't get any easier for research scientists as the field undergoes a fundamental shift.

"Those of us trying to make a living through science and drug discovery are going to have to scramble for it," writes Lowe in "Hard Times: A Manifesto." "We're going to have to prove our worth to those who are in a position to pay for us, and we're going to have to try to make as many of our own opportunities as we can."

- read the blog

Despite layoffs, scientists in high demand

Calisha Myers — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:20:12 -0400

Good news for scientists and researchers: despite a number of layoffs and hiring freezes, there is still high demand in the biotech industry. And human resources managers are going above and beyond to attract good talent.

Cambridge-based Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Cubist Pharmaceuticals are among the companies planning to hire more employees. Over the next 14 months, Millennium--recently acquired by Japan-based Takeda--will hire 300 people, including data managers, oncologists and salespeople, according to a report in the Boston Herald.

While the job market may be waning in some states, Massachusetts seems to be at the center of the biotech expansion. The state recently approved a $1 billion economic incentive package for the life sciences industries, and new companies are relocating to Massachusetts while others are expanding their operations. According to a report from MassBio and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, 85 percent of the state's life-sciences employers expect to expand in the next two years. And apparently finding life sciences candidates is difficult: 90 percent of employers surveyed said they had difficulty hiring clinical research staff.

Millennium has begun advertising its job opportunities on a billboard near Boston's Museum of Science. Not one to shy away from competition, the company has also decided to strategically place advertisements inside Cambridge subway stations located near other life-sciences companies, as well as inside shuttle buses that transport workers to and from various biotech research centers.

- read the Boston Herald report

Report: Mass. needs more biotech workers

Maureen Martino — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:48:14 -0400

A new report from MassBIO and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center finds that the state needs to cultivate more biotech talent if it wants to keep its edge in the industry. The study found that 85 percent of the state's life science employers anticipate hiring in the next two years, but 90 percent said they have difficulty hiring clinical research staff. This, MassBIO says, means the state must "improve, expand and tailor its educational programs and resources designed to prepare students and workers for jobs in life sciences sector." The study makes several recommendations:

Educate and retain more graduate students with interdisciplinary training
Strengthen undergraduate education
Improve and target technical training to respond to employers' needs
Improve communication between the industry and higher education

Part of the recent $1 billion biotech bill will go to the Massachusetts Life Sciences Investment Fund, which provides funding for training, research grants, fellowships and other programs designed to support education and research in the life sciences.

- here's the MassBIO study
- read this article from the Boston Herald

China's 'sea turtles' pioneering new ventures

John Carroll — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:07:58 -0400

For years Chinese students have been following the well beaten path to U.S. universities to earn advanced degrees in biology. And today as many as 20 percent of the scientists doing research work at U.S. pharma and biotech companies are Chinese, according to BusinessWeek. But the "sea turtles" aren't all staying here. An influential group has headed back to China to establish new research and development operations of their own.

"Now most come back because they want to get rich and do big things," Michael Hui, CEO of ShangPharma, a drug R&D outsourcing firm, tells BusinessWeek.

- read the article for more

Roche to move out of Palo Alto

Maureen Martino — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:15:34 -0400

Palo Alto may have to say goodbye to as many as 3,000 jobs. According to the San Francisco Business Times, Roche is planning to move its inflammation business from Palo Alto to Nutley, NJ and its virology ops--also at Palo Alto--to South San Francisco. The company will also move U.S. pharmaceutical commercial operations from its New Jersey site to South San Francisco.

"Roche is not disclosing the exact number of jobs that would shift between Palo Alto, South San Francisco and New Jersey. This much, however, is sure: South San Francisco will gain hundreds of jobs, New Jersey will lose hundreds and the Palo Alto operations that employed 3,000 people before Roche took control likely will be shuttered," notes the Business Times.

South San Francisco is the home of 8,000 Genentech employees. Roche, of course, is attempting to purchase one of the world's largest biotechs, though Genentech has rejected its offer as too low. Unfortunately for Palo Alto, Roche's reorganization plans will take place whether or not the Genentech deal goes through.

- read the article for more

Special Reports:
Roche - Top 15 R&D Budgets
Genentech - Big Biotech's Stock Report
Top Five Regions Targeting Biotech Companies - 2008

Genentech sets aside $371M in retention bonuses

John Carroll — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:44:32 -0400

Genentech is taking $371 million earmarked for its stock option plan and putting it all into retention bonuses as it negotiates with Roche over a buyout. If Roche reaches a deal to buy the outstanding shares of the biotech giant before next July, an odds-on favorite with deal makers, the money gets handed out along a sliding scale. Starting at the top, CEO Art Levinson stands to gain an $8.4 million retention bonus with other execs qualifying for $2.7 to $4.6 million apiece. Rank-and-file workers get less. Not only that, but there's a separate fund for severance pay if the execs face a reduction in authority or anyone is asked to move more than 50 miles.

Genentech particularly wants to keep its scientists in place. They are responsible for creating one of the most valuable pipelines in the biotech industry, and no one wants to upset the geese that are laying the golden eggs. Of course, the big money is set up to reward the top players in the company, who now stand to make big gains from a deal.

- check out the Wall Street Journal Blog take

ALSO: Scientists are skeptical that Genentech's anti-cancer drug, Avastin, will show any benefit in peventing the recurrence of colorectal cancer following surgery. See the Financial Times article for more.

Despite biotech sector, grads leave southeast U.S. for jobs

Maureen Martino — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:13:33 -0400

In recent years the Southeast U.S. has been recognized as a growing hub for biotech business. The area--which is made up of seven states--boasts the dynamic clusters of Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. It also produces a good number of skilled graduates, such as lab technicians and PhDs, MDs and MPHs, who make for a rich crop of up-and-coming biotech workers.

But Karen Ventii of TechJournalSouth reports that many of these graduates are heading to other parts of the country to find jobs, and experts fear the "brain drain" could impact the future of the southeast's biotech hub. "It is evident that the life science industries in Georgia, North Carolina and Florida are still quite young and home-grown and, as a result, labor force issues are expected to have significant effects on growth. These problems are likely to reflect similar situations in other Southeastern states," observes Ventii. Experts say the problem is two-fold: there aren't enough jobs for students, and it's a struggle to connect students with available jobs. Southeast BIO is working to reverse this trend. The group is raising awareness about opportunities in the area so that candidates to look elsewhere and hopes to foster its biotech cluster by offering enough opportunities to keep grads in the southeast.

- check out the TechJournalSouth article

Canada short on biotech workers

Maureen Martino — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:27:24 -0400

Canada's biotech sector is growing, but the country is struggling to find enough "job-ready" candidates. That's according to a new report from BioTalent Canada, which finds that the country is having trouble attracting and retaining biotech workers. The good news is that Canada's biotech sector is on the rise and has grown 77 percent since 1988, with small companies (under 50 employees) making up 80 percent of the industry. However, without experienced workers, these small companies will have trouble attracting venture investments, which could stifle the whole industry.

Colette Rivet, executive director for BioTalent, said the manner in which Canadian higher learning institutions are training students isn't preparing them for work in the industry. "What we're finding is a lot of the universities are training them more for academia than for the private world," said Rivet. "It's a very different kind of environment in the private world. You have to be entrepreneurial. You have to be able to wear different hats. You have to have business sense. You know, the innovative approach to things, it's very different from academia." Rivet recommended greater support from provincial governments in the form of more taxpayer dollars invested in the industry.

- see this report for more

MedImmune to hire 800 in pipeline push

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:59:57 -0400

With plans to double the number of experimental therapies in its pipeline by 2010, MedImmune is laying plans to hire 800 new staffers by the end of this year, according to a report in the Washington Business Journal. That's a 25 percent increase in its workforce, which also swelled after AstraZeneca bought the Gaitherburg, MD-based developer and combined its operations with the UK's Cambridge Antibody Technology Group. Many of these new hires will be headed for the research department, which has ambitious plans for fast growth. MedImmune has outlined plans to provide 25 percent of AstraZeneca's late-stage therapies by 2010.

- read the report in the Washington Business Journal