Pfizer to Lay Off 151 in Pearl River Vaccines Phase-Out

Pearl River had set the scene for vaccine breakthroughs, cGMP challenges, and ambitious Lean and operational excellence programs

Pfizer will lay off 151 workers at its facility in Pearl River, New York, according to local news report from Rockland County’s The Journal News. The layoffs will occur between August 20th and October 28th,  The Journal News reported, and will affect 103 non-union and 48 union employees.

Plans for the layoffs, and the phase out of vaccine development and manufacturing at Pearl River, had been announced in 2009, after Pfizer’s acquisition of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, former owner of the site.

Pearl River had been a setting for major breakthroughs and challenges for Wyeth, including development of the Prevnar pneumococcal vaccine, as well as a 2000 consent decree for manufacturing and quality issues. Following resolution of issues highlighted in the consent decree, Lean and Toyota Production System-inspired operational excellence and safety programs at the site had become benchmarks for pharmaceutical manufacturing. Reports say that 700 employees will remain on the site, working in cancer drug development and production.  The site once employed 4,000.