AstraZeneca plans to make further cuts in overhead as the company works its way through a “patent cliff” that has contributed to a loss of jobs in Delaware in recent years.
Reuters reported the British company reported a decline in underlying earnings in the first quarter as revenues continued to decline on drugs that are losing the patent protection that allows premium pricing.
The news service reported CEO Pascal Soriot announced plans to cut manufacturing and other overhead costs as the company continues to focus on cancer drugs. He did not provide specifics on job cuts, although he said actions could save $1 billion in costs.
Abigail Bozarth of AstraZeneca said the company had no further information beyond Soriot’s statement on Friday.
The list of drugs going off patent includes Seroquel, which was developed in the now-razed research center of AstraZeneca in northern Delaware.
The company has cut its workforce to about 2,000 in the past several years as it ended research in Delaware and shifted jobs to its MedImmune business in the Washington, D.C. area.
Employment in Delaware had been more than double that figure after a successful state effort to lure North American headquarters of the company to Delaware from Chester County, PA.
The State of Delaware and AZ said the company met its obligations under the terms of the financial package.
One provision called for an upgrade of roads in and around the complex. While controversial in some circles at the time of the state commitment, traffic has grown to the point that the improvements were needed regardless of job cuts
AZ also sold its South Campus near its Fairfax headquarters complex near Wilmington to JPMorganChase, which has a technology hub at the suburban site.
In recent months, there has been a concern in business and government circles over the future of Delaware operations that include an administrative headquarters and a production-distribution site near Newark.
AZ did indicate a couple of years ago it would spend $100 million at the Newark site, easing fears about the future of that facility.
The company’s focus on cancer comes as Vice President Joe Biden begins to lead an effort for a “moon shot” to find cancer cures. Biden lost his son Beau to brain cancer last year.
Biden’s mission has led to a discussion about a cancer center in Delaware.
Former Cong. Mike Castle and retired banker and Delaware Community Foundation president Fred Sears penned a column in the News Journal on the possibility of such a center.
Delaware is also the home of Incyte, Corp., a pharmaceutical company that focuses on blood cancers. Growth at Incyte has cushioned the blow of job losses at AstraZeneca.
