In 1990, 20 percent of the nation’s pharmaceutical jobs were in New Jersey. It now has 13 percent of them. From 2007 to 2008, the state lost 10 percent of its jobs in the high-paying industry.
Now a wave of pharmaceutical consolidations involving New Jersey firms, including Pfizer Inc.’s purchase of Wyeth in Madison and Merck & Co. Inc.’s purchase of Schering-Plough Corp., headquartered in Kenilworth, is likely to cost the state even more of those jobs.
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Pfizer will close N.J. research center as part of major consolidation
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Just weeks after completing its acquisition of Wyeth, Pfizer said this morning it will consolidate its far-flung research and development activity to five main campuses. The strategy will result in the closing of six locations including Wyeth’s Princeton research center, which represented the heart of the company’s discovery efforts on Alzheimer’s disease.
The work being done at the center, which is actually located in South Brunswick, will be relocated to Pfizer’s major research campus in Groton, Conn. The relocation is planned to go into effect next year.
“On the one hand, New Jersey will continue to be an important area for Pfizer, but when it comes to research and development, we have decided to exit our presence,’’ said Mikael Dolsten, president of BioTherapeutics Research and Development at Pfizer.
The consolidation will shrink the drug maker’s research footprint from 20 locations to five campuses, with nine specialized laboratories. In addition to New Jersey, Pfizer will close operations in New York, North Carolina, including facilities in Research Triangle Park and the United Kingdom.
Employees at the affected locations were informed of the company’s decision yesterday morning in face-to-face interviews. Roughly 450 people work at Wyeth’s former Princeton research center. The facility also does animal health research.
“We’re trying to create a structure that will be efficient and focused on fewer geographies,’’ Dolsten said during a telephone interview this morning.
“These are difficult decisions,’’ he said, “but we’re very pleased, we’ve been able to move fast. We think that will allow the company to focus on moving the new products forward.’’
Last month, Pfizer said it would keep Wyeth’s former world headquarters in Madison. The campus will be known collectively as “The Leadership Center for Pfizer Diversified Businesses.’’
The name reflects the variety of businesses that will be located on the campus, including animal health as well as nutrition and consumer products -- divisions the company gained from Wyeth.