BASEL, SWITZERLAND – Novartis will be cutting close to 2,000 jobs in the US, in New Jersey, as the result of an expected fall in demand for a relatively new medicine and the expiry of the patent for another, the company announced Friday 13 January in Basel. The sales force will lose 1,630 jobs and another 330 will go in related administrative posts. Staff will be informed of the specifics in April and the job cuts will be made in the first half of 2012.
The restructuring that lies behind the job cuts will result in CHF160 million in exceptional charges in the first half of 2012 in addition to an exceptional charge of CHF900m in the second half of 2011 following a “reassessment of the future sales potential of Rasilez/Tekturna in light of the Altitude results”.
Preparations were underway to restructure the company’s general medicines business with the patent expiring for the hypertension market leading medicine Diovan (valsartan) in the US in September 2012. The restructuration is being speeded up, the company says, after Altitude clinical studies were recently called to a halt, ending trials for Rasilez/Tekturna (aliskiren), another hypertension drug.
Novartis notes that the
“study was halted following the recommendation from the Data Monitoring Committee overseeing the trial. The study was investigating Rasilez/Tekturna in a high-risk population of patients with type-2 diabetes and renal impairment. As a precautionary measure Novartis Pharmaceuticals ceased all promotion of Rasilez/Tekturna-based products for use in combination with an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB). Novartis Pharmaceuticals, in consultation with health authorities, is now recommending that hypertensive patients with diabetes should not be treated with Rasilez/Tekturna in combination with an ACE-inhibitor or ARB. Patient safety is the highest priority for Novartis and we are in continuing dialogue with health authorities worldwide to establish the most appropriate next steps.”
Novartis announced in November that it is cutting 1,000 jobs in Switzerland, some 350 of them in Prangins, near Nyon.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Police in New Jersey in the US have found 11 stolen artworks, including a Picaosso etching, in a Hoboken apartment. The man who has the apartment was already being held in California on $5 million bail after he was charged with stealing ”Tête de Femme (Head of a Woman),” a 1965 pencil drawing by Picasso. The San Francisco Gate reports that the man is accused of stealing the art from several hotels and museums during a three-week spree that ended 6 July.
He is a former sommelier, says the news service, who is also accused of having stolen three bottles of wine in June, worth $6,000.
A Brazilian federal appeals court has upheld an earlier ruling in favour of US father David Goldman, who has been trying to obtain custody and the return of his son since the child was taken to Brazil by his mother in 2004. The case has gained international attention as a test case for the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. The boy, who was four at the time he was taken for what Goldman says was supposed to be a two-week vacation, has US and Brazilian citizenship. His mother died in 2008 and Goldman argues that as the sole surviving parent, he should have custody, but the boy’s maternal family and stepfather argue that he wants to stay with them and have said they intend to appeal.
Republicans made some gains in US weekend elections, with wins in two important states, New Jersey and Virginia. Bob McDonnell won the governor’s seat comfortably in Virginia and in a hotly contested gubernatorial race in New Jersey Chris Christie defeated Governor Jon Korzine. New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican, held onto his job in a close election.
Republican challengers in New Jersey and Virginia have bested their Democrat opponents in elections for governor, while in New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent, narrowly maintainted his job over Democrat challenger, Bill Thompson, in elections 3 November.
In Virginia, Bob McDonnel easily beat his Democrat opponent to become the first Republican governor there in 12 years. In New Jersey, Chris Christie edged out billionaire first-term governor Jon Corzine. Congressional elections in New York and California are not yet decided.
The elections are seen by many as a referendum on US President Barack Obama’s first eight months in office. BBC, CNN,NPR, Reuters
A helicopter and small Piper plane collided in mid-air over the Hudson River between Hoboken, New Jersey and Manhattan, New York, in the US Saturday, presumably killing all nine people aboard, although so far only two bodies have been found. Five Italian tourists were in the helicopter, touring the area. New York Times, Reuters
A 61-year-old pilot died of natural causes during a Continental Airlines flight from Brussels, Belgium to Newark, New Jersey, USA. The plane commands were taken over by two other pilots on board and it has landed safely in Newark. It was carrying 247 passengers. Yahoo News
