Pfizer Trimming Research Plants After Buying Wyeth

LINDA A. JOHNSON

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Less than a month after buying Wyeth, drug giant Pfizer Inc. has mapped out a new structure for its research and development operations.

The plan, announced Monday, will bring the closure of six of the two companies' 20 research facilities, reorganize and consolidate others, and cut the jobs of up to 2,000 scientists and laboratory technicians.

Pfizer, which is based in New York, solidified its position as the world's biggest drugmaker with its $68 billion purchase of drug and vaccine maker Wyeth on Oct. 15, diversifying overnight by adding Wyeth's biotech drugs and consumer and animal health divisions.

The two executives heading the combined research operation told The Associated Press that integrating and reorganizing the two companies' laboratories will boost research productivity and save money.

In addition, Pfizer will eliminate about 35 percent of the 16 million square feet of research space it now has around the world.

It will now have five key research centers, each focused on specific disease areas, plus nine other laboratories with specialized research capabilities. Research operations in Princeton, N.J.; two sites each in New York and North Carolina, and one in the United Kingdom will be closed.