Bayer Announces R&D and Manufacturing Cuts

In a strategic move to strengthen its core life science businesses, Bayer announces 900 R&D and 350 manufacturing job cuts. 

The Bayer Group announced its restructuring plans in a Nov. 29, 2018, press release, which includes plans to eliminate approximately 900 R&D jobs and 350 positions at the company’s factor VIII facility in Wuppertal, Germany. In addition, the company said it would exit its Animal Health business, consumer brands Coppertone and Dr. Scholl’s, and its stake in Currenta, a site services provider in Germany. 

Noting increased competition in the hemophilia business, Bayer reported it has decided not to use the factor VIII facility it has built in Wuppertal, Germany, and to focus all recombinant factor VIII production in Berkeley, CA, USA.

For the Pharmaceuticals Division, strengthening the focus on external innovation is “an essential step, along with the successful continual development of the R&D pipeline,” the company noted in the statement. Resources freed up through the reduction of internal R&D capacities will be directed toward strengthening investment in collaborative research models and external innovations, the statement reported. 

In a statement announcing the changes, Bayer said it intends to “allocate the investment resources necessary to support Animal Health to Bayer’s core businesses of Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Health, and Crop Science.” 

The company also announced its intention to invest an estimated €35 million ($40 million) through the end of 2022, with R&D accounting for two-thirds of the investment, “to strengthen innovation and competitiveness at the divisions.”

The restructuring includes the loss of approximately 12,000 out of 118,200 jobs worldwide, “a significant number of them in Germany,” the statement reported. Details are expected in coming months.

Source: The Bayer Group