Bracing for a wave of new generic competition to its diabetes drug Actos, Takeda Pharmaceuticals is taking the axe to its big R&D operations in Chicago as part of a company-wide restructuring in the U.S.
Takeda Global Research and Development Center in Lake Forest, which handles new drug development, is eliminating about 20 percent of its 840 staffers, according to ChicagoBreakingBusiness.com, which is managed by the Chicago Tribune. And altogether 28 percent of its 5,000 U.S. workers are being chopped. One of those workers is Executive Vice President Alan MacKenzie.
"This will position us for success in 2010 and beyond so we can continue the important work of research and development in order to deliver important new treatments for unmet patient needs," the company said in a statement.
- see the Takeda release
- here's the report from ChicagoBreakingBusiness