CRO

CRO Ricerca plans to shed its staff if it can't find a buyer

Ricerca Biosciences is looking to get bought, and if it can't, the Ohio-headquartered CRO is clearing the way for massive layoffs.

As Crain's Cleveland Business reports, Ricerca filed a letter with the state's Office of Workforce Development explaining that it may terminate all 199 of its employees by November if it's unable to settle on a strategic alternative.

Meanwhile, the company's chief restructuring officer is busy scouting for deals that might avoid such drastic measures, telling Crain's that Ricerca has identified a few potential buyers.

"We're hopeful that we're going to be able to pull this off," Clifford Croley told the news service.

The company, founded in 1986, splits its business between early- and mid-stage drug development and agrochemicals. Ricerca has been gradually paring down its operations to better focus on its Ohio headquarters, last year selling off a French R&D site to WIL Research and transferring 250 employees in the process.

- read the story
- here's the letter (PDF)