Solvay to shed 400 jobs in France

Belgian pharmaceutical and chemicals group Solvay is to shed 400 jobs in France in the wake of the acquisition of Fournier Pharma (Marketletter July 18, 2005), equivalent to 19% of the group's workforce in France. Other minor cuts are to be made in Spain, Belgium and Italy bringing the total of redundancies to 500.

Coos de Graaf, director of Solvay Pharma France, said the merger with Fournier had created some duplication which had to be eliminated. He added, however, that even without the merger, a restructuring was necessary as between 2002 and 2005 Fournier's sales in France had fallen 24% while those of Solvay Pharma France had declined 6%. Sales of the new merged entity are expected to fall 20%-25% this year. Fournier's suppository drug Octofene (clofoctol), which accounted for 5.0 million euros ($6.0 million) of sales, has been withdrawn from the market and Altana AG in Germany has taken back its licence on the antihypertensive Mediatensyl (urapidil). The group has also had to face a lower government fixed price than expected for a new presentation of Lipanthyl (fenofibrate), the group's anti-cholesterol drug.