NEW JERSEY, November 28 – The pharmaceutical company which once was extremely successful thanks to Vioxx, is now being beat down by that same best-seller. New Jersey-based Merck & Co. Inc. announced a drastic job cut of 7,000 jobs today. This amounts to 11% off their total worldwide employment.
Merck faces over 6,500 lawsuits over the painkiller Vioxx which was pulled from stores in September 2004 after suspicion that it causes heart problems. In one Texas case Merck was found responsible for the death of one man and was penalized for over $200 million, the appeal against this ruling is still active.
In addition to the job cuts Merck also announced they are looking to sell or close five of their plants. All these plans should create a leaner and more effective company according to the CEO. They are also looking to reduce the process of developing and launching a new product so that they can take a total of 15 months off of the total time from development till public launch.
Half of all job cuts will hit the United States. In light of this news shares for Merck dropped 4%.
