Johnson & Johnson cuts 154 production posts in Belgium

US group Johnson & Johnson has decided to scrap 154 positions at its Belgian subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceutica, following the reorganisation of its pharmaceutical production operations that sees biotechnology production, chemical and pharmaceutical production being amalgamated into a single worldwide organisation.

The company said it expected to avoid redundancies by moving the affected staff to other positions internally. There will also be a reduction the number of production positions in other countries, but J&J declined to say which countries would be affected and the total figure of jobs to be lost worldwide.

The group said its pharmaceutical activities had been affected by the "drastic changes taking place in the innovative pharmaceutical industry in the world", which are linked to rising production costs for new medicines along with a more selective and slower registration policy for new drugs. Against this backdrop, the group says it is looking for opportunities worldwide to strengthen its productivity.

J&J is also having to cope with patent expiries on several products, such as antipsychotic Risperdal (risperidone), which lost intellectual protection last year, ahead of antiepileptic drug Topamax (topiramate), which will follow next year.