Pharmaceutical & Biotech Industry Scheduled to Close 17 North American Plants in 2009 and Counting

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Less than a month into the new year, the Pharmaceutical & Biotech Industry has 17 sites targeted for closure. Even more worrisome is that these facilities were already put on notice before the evolving tsunami of the current economic meltdown. It is obvious that the list will grow as companies continue to slash costs in an effort to survive.

Click on the image at right for a list of reported 2009 Pharma-Bio plant closures.

When considering only reported closures, the tally of the potential unemployed reaches nearly 6,000 people across the United States and Canada. As operational redundancy, financial blues and a host of other reasons are offered up, the stark reality is that these typically high-paying jobs will be hard to replace anytime soon. Traditionally, an extensively trained and competent worker from within the industry has had more options when seeking new work than those from other fields. But in this financial climate, everyone from production technicians to management will find the pickings are on the slim side when almost everyone is laying off or hunkering down until the worst is over.

According to recent survey of data contained within Industrial Info's Pharmaceutical Tracker - Online Database, over the years, these facilities have generated 31 reported capital and maintenance projects with a total investment value of $225 million. Thirteen of these projects concern the closure and disposal of the properties. As in any circumstance, one's loss is another's gain, and the hope is these plants will be purchased, negating the need to shut down and dismantle. Such is the case with the Astellas Pharma's (Deerfield, Illinois) Grand Island, New York, plant at 3125 Staley Road. APP Pharmaceuticals (Schaumberg, Illinois) has plans to purchase and upgrade the site, which is near its own plant on Staley Road. That project's genesis is being directed under the guidance of APP's new owner, Germany's Fresenius SE, which purchased the company in a $3.7 billion deal last year.

Puerto Rico, for decades a bastion of pharmaceutical-biotech manufacturing activity, is taking the biggest hit thus far. Four plants are currently on the chopping block with more than 1,600 jobs at risk. The plants targeted for closure include the Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) (New York, New York) facility in Mayaguez, which manufactures heart disease and diabetes medicine. This follows another recent closure on the island by BMS, which closed a plant last year in Barceloneta citing the need to cut down on manufacturing costs. That site employed more than 200 and produced two AIDS medications and an antibiotic. The company has no current plans to close its remaining production sites in Puerto Rico in the cities of Humacao and Manati.

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Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.