Melanie Sena is community editor of Pharmaceutical Technology.

Melanie Sena

 revealed that big pharma employment dropped by 3% between 2003 and 2013, relieving fears that industry consolidation and restructuring would lead to significantly reduced headcounts and payrolls.

The new report shows that when it comes to pharmaceutical industry jobs, big biotech and specialty drugmakers are growing in significance, more than offsetting the loss of jobs in big pharma.

Headcount more than doubled over the last decade at companies with market capitalizations of more than $30 billion, but who are not traditionally considered big pharma. Some of those gains were the result of acquisitions, such as Valeant, but groups like Novo Nordisk, Gilead Sciences, and Regeneron have seen their staff double, triple, or even quadruple based primarily on organic growth, the report finds.

“Large drug makers like Gilead are now not only outperforming big pharma, but are outhiring it,” said Lisa Urquhart, EP Vantage editor.  “With the focus still on cost-cutting in big pharma, if you want a long-term career in the industry you might be better off with a smaller player.”

The report also found: Novartis is the biggest employer in the pharma sector, with a workforce of more than 135,000 people; Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer topped the industry in terms of shrinking headcount, each firing 36% of their employees; and the biggest hirer of 2013 in percentage terms was Pharmacyclics, which more than doubled its headcount to 484 to support the launch of cancer drug Imbruvica.

Articles

Big pharma employment dropped by 3% between 2003 and 2013, according to a new jobs report published by EP Vantage.

Big Pharma Industry Shrinks While Biotech Booms

 and Idenix Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of medicines for the treatment of human viral diseases, have entered into a definitive agreement under which Merck will acquire Idenix for $24.50 per share in cash. The transaction, which values the purchase of Idenix at approximately $3.85 billion, has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies.

Idenix's primary focus is on the development of next-generation oral antiviral therapeutics to treat hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The company currently has three HCV drug candidates in clinical development: two nucleotide prodrugs (IDX21437 and IDX21459) and a NS5A inhibitor (samatasvir). These new candidates are being evaluated for their potential inclusion in the development of all oral, pan-genotypic fixed-dose combination regimens.

Merck’s research and development portfolio includes several HCV medicines in development, of which is a combination of MK-5172, an investigational HCV NS3/4A protease inhibitor and MK-8742, an investigational HCV NS5A replication complex inhibitor. The combination of these two investigational candidates has received breakthrough therapy designation from FDA for the treatment of HCV. In April 2014, Merck announced initiation of Phase 3 clinical trials for MK-5172/MK-8742 to evaluate the combination with and without ribavirin in various genotypes and across a  range of patient populations with chronic HCV. 

Merck acquires Idenix Pharmaceuticals for $3.85 billion.

Merck to Acquire Idenix

, a company focused on the development of adoptive immunotherapies based on engineered allogeneic Universal Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cells (UCART) and CELLforCURE, a  subsidiary of the biopharmaceutical group LFB, have entered into an agreement in which CELLforCURE will be responsible for the cGMP manufacturing of clinical batches of Cellectis’ allogeneic CART cells. CELLforCURE operates a commercial industrial facility for the production of new therapeutic cell therapies in Les Ulis, France. 

The candidates from the UCART product family are allogeneic cell therapy products based on the CAR (Chimeric Antigen Receptor) technology combined with genome engineering. According to the company, engineered allogeneic T-lymphocytes bearing a CAR directed at a tumor antigen are a new potential treatment for the various forms of leukemias, lymphomas, and solid tumors. UCARTs are “off-the-shelf” allogeneic products, which means that UCART production can be standardized, with consistent pharmaceutical release criteria, over time and from batch to batch. The favorable cost of such industrially manufactured treatments may help make them available to a broad patient population and avoid risks associated with the processing and the timing required for an autologous CART process. 

Cellectis enters an agreement with CELLforCURE for cGMP clinical manufacturing of allogeneic T-cells.

Cellectis Enters Agreement With CELLforCURE

As part of an ongoing international effort to battle counterfeit medicines, the US Pharmacopeial Convention (

) welcomed 11 new organizations as partners in the global “Fight the Fakes” campaign.

“Counterfeit medicines can account for up to 30% of the drug supply in parts of Asia, Africa, and Latin America according to estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO),” said USP CEO Ron Piervincenzi. 

Established in 2013, Fight the Fakes is a campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of fake medicines, giving a voice to those who have been personally impacted and sharing the stories of those working to put a stop to this public health threat. The Fight the Fakes initiative now includes 25 healthcare groups, research institutes, foundations, non-profits, and private sector organizations.

Eleven new organizations join the global "Fight the Fakes" campaign.

USP Welcomes New Partners to "Fight the Fakes" Campaign

will extend Marijn Dekkers, PhD, contract as CEO for an additional two years, until the end of 2016.Werner Baumann, currently CFO, will become chief strategy and portfolio officer effective Oct. 1, 2014.  Also effective Oct. 1, 2014, Johannes Dietsch, currently senior Bayer representative and CFO for Greater China based in Shanghai, will assume the position of CFO.

Bayer extends its CEO contract with Marijn Dekkers until 2016.

Bayer Extends CEO Contract

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries reported a 

 and related executive positions that will become effective July 1st, 2014. Teva will be divided into two commercial business units: Global Specialty Medicines (GSM), established in April 2013, and the newly-formed Global Generic Medicines group (GGM). According to Teva, these changes will create a less complex, integrated company that can more effectively address the needs of patients in the global markets.

The GGM group will have full global responsibility for all existing generic-drug markets. This includes portfolio management and selection, product launch, and commercial execution. Sigurdur Olafsson has been appointed president and CEO of the GGM group. Prior to joining Teva, Olafsson served as president of Actavis Pharma. The GSM group will be led by Rob Koremans, PhD, and is responsible for Teva's global specialty medicines business.

The newly formed Corporate Development, Strategy and Innovation Group will be responsible for strategy and business development initiatives, while also looking for new business models, partnerships, and technologies. A group leader has not yet been appointed. Teva is also creating a new Global Corporate Marketing Excellence and Communications Group, which will be responsible for corporate marketing, brand management, corporate communications, and corporate social responsibility.
  Iris Beck-Codner has been appointed as the group executive vice-president. Previsouly, Beck-Codner served as SVP chief corporate communication officer at Teva.

Eric Drapé, currently the head of Sterile, Respiratory and Specialty Operations has been named group executive vice-president, Global Head of Quality. As head of Global Quality, Drapé will report directly to Teva's president and CEO, Erez Vigodman, and work closely with Carlo De Notaristefani, PhD, president and CEO of Teva's Global Operations. Eyal Desheh, Teva’s executive vice-president and CFO, will be responsible for executing Teva’s corporate efficiency program, continue to oversee Teva's Global IT, and assume joint responsibility for Investor Relations, together with Vigodman. Desheh returned to his position as Teva’s group executive vice-president, CFO in February 2014, after serving as Teva’s acting president and CEO since October 2013.

, a privately-held development stage biotechnology company focused on treatments for chronic migraine and episodic migraine, broadening Teva’s range of biotechnology assets and capabilities.
  Teva will acquire Labrys for $200 million in upfront payment in cash at closing as well as up to $625 million in contingent payments upon achievement of certain pre-launch milestones. The closing of this transaction is subject to antitrust clearance and satisfaction of other conditions.

Teva Announces New Organizational Structure

Teva assigns new executive positions and acquires Labrys Biologics.