GPC closes Waltham plant and cuts staff 16%

German drugmaker GPC Biotech AG is closing its R&D facility in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA, and losing 16% of its total workforce, as it consolidates its drug discovery efforts to one location.

Affected employees will be eligible for termination packages that include severance pay, continuation of benefits and outplacement services. The drug-discovery programs currently being managed in Waltham will be moved to Munich, Germany. However, the firm noted that it is continuing to build its clinical development and commercialization groups based in Princeton, New Jersey.

Company chief executive Bernd Seizinger said that the move was prompted by the acquisition of the assets and the hiring of many research scientists of Munich-based Axxima Pharmaceuticals in 2005, as well as the ending this year of the collaboration with Altana Pharma in Waltham. "While we believe this action makes sense for the company strategically, it was not a decision we made lightly as it has necessitated the closing of our Waltham site...Importantly, we will continue to have a strong and growing presence in the USA at our Princeton, New Jersey site, where we have an ongoing effort to expand our clinical development team and build our commercialization organization, including hiring a field sales force for the USA," he added.