Novartis to cut UK jobs in Horsham, West Sussex

Published: 17-Mar-2011
Research & Development Finance

Around 500 jobs to go, but 330 respiratory research positions are secure

Novartis plans to cut around 500 jobs in the UK at its Horsham site in West Sussex as part of the Swiss pharmaceutical firm’s review of its global operations.

Novartis UK, which is the largest employer in Horsham with around 950 staff, said it would end pharmaceutical manufacturing and close its global development at the site over a two-year period.

The site’s respiratory research group, which employs 330, and corresponding support functions, will remain in Horsham.

Novartis said it would maintain its major manufacturing sites in Grimsby, Liverpool and at Dundee, Scotland.

‘With significant changes in healthcare systems aimed to contain or cut cost, this critical assessment and the subsequent potential changes to the Novartis UK organisation are key to maintain significant investment in innovative drugs and our research efforts in the UK,’ said Sue Webb, Novartis general manager for the UK and Ireland and country president.

The Horsham site is a campus shared by Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research and Novartis Consumer Health.

Novartis said the gastrointestinal research teams at Horsham are likely to be combined with teams in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK, over a one- to two-year period.

The company also aims to move its OTC operations at Horsham to its Frimley, Surrey site ‘to further leverage integrated back-office services’.

The proposals will be subject to an employee consultation process and final Novartis UK board approval.

Today’s move is a further blow to the UK’s pharmaceutical research and development industry. In February, Pfizer announced the closure of its research and development facility at Sandwich, Kent, over the next 18 to 24 months as part of a global restructuring programme. Around 2,400 people are employed at the facility, which carries out research and development on allergy and respiratory drugs.

Novartis stressed that it would continue to invest in both research and manufacturing in the UK, stating that the environment for the pharmaceutical industry in the UK is a good one.

‘We are collaborating with the government on a number of valuable initiatives to promote life-sciences research in the UK, including clinical research networks, the Academic Health Science Centres and the Therapeutic Capability Clusters,’ the firm said.

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