Sanofi’s Acquisition of Genzyme to Impact Bridgewater Lab

Outside one of the Sanofi facilities (Route 202/206 south) Bridgeweater, NJ

The April, 2011, Sanofi acquisition of Genzyme, a leading biotechnology company based in Boston, Massachusetts, will, according to an article appearing in last Tuesday’s Boston Globe, lead to the closing of a research lab in Bridgewater, New Jersey.

According to that report by Robert Weisman, “Sanofi is closing a New Jersey drug research lab because it has been less productive than Genzyme’s labs, which have developed treatments for rare diseases, Sanofi chief executive Christopher A. Viehbacher told investors gathered here [in San Francisco] at the 30th annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.”

 Viehbacher explained that “Genzyme’s having a big impact on the Sanofi culture,” and that, “being a leader in life sciences in Cambridge, Mass., means we’re able to look at all our facilities. We decided we didn’t need a research facility in Bridgewater, N.J.”

Overall, Sanofi expects to cut $170 million in annual operating costs as a result of the Genzyme acquisition, “the Sanofi chief executive said . . .  but many of the cuts will be at legacy Sanofi sites outside the Boston area.” 

Genzyme is rebalancing its labor force in the Bay State and “has added research and manufacturing jobs in the Boston area, keeping its Massachusetts workforce stable at about 4,500 employees.”

Sanofi expects to decentralize its research facilities by implementing a “‘hub concept’ of basing its drug discovery efforts at a small number of global research and development centers in Cambridge, France, Germany, and China, said Viehbacher.”

This is a great disappointment for the Bridgewater area.  The Globe article makes no mention of the number of employees involved, whether or not lab workers in Bridgewater would be offered a transfer to Genzyme, be laid off, or reassigned within the company.

 See my blog post of February 16, 2011, when I first came across Sanofi’s acquisition of Genzyme.

Thanks for reading, and for those who may be adversely affected by these events in Bridgewater:  Bonne chance, mes amis