Sandoz Layoffs

Sandoz, a generic drug manufacturer, laid off about 30 people from its Wilson plant this week, although company officials say the site should have a net increase in employment after a reorganization is completed.

"We're trying to secure the future of the site," said Charles Bruns, director of communications for Sandoz Inc.

The plant is at 4700 Sandoz Drive in the Wilson Corporate Park and now employs 420 people.

Bruns said the reorganization should increase productivity, ensure compliance and enhance the site's competitiveness by creating product-specific workstream teams, which he called "the essence of the reorganization."

According to a company press release, "We expect these changes to enhance the site's competitiveness so that it can continue to provide high-quality, lower-cost medicines to our customers, as well as securing opportunities for associates and other stakeholders well into the future.

"While a number of current positions are being eliminated, the organizational redesign will result in a net increase in the number of people employed at Wilson over the next few months."

The reorganization will allow "operations to move forward in full compliance with both current Good Manufacturing Practices and internal quality standards," the release said.

The Wilson Sandoz plant received a warning letter from the FDA in August, which was the result of a March inspection.

The inspection "revealed significant deviations" from the Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations in the manufacturing of drug products, which include Metoprolol Succinate ER tablets, according to the Aug. 12 letter.

Bruns said Sandoz was already reorganizing before the FDA warning letter.

"The reorganization of the Wilson operations began earlier this year, before the FDA inspection," he said.

Part of those changes involved putting new management in place, he said.

Employees affected by the elimination of the 30 positions were offered severance packages and outplacement services, he said.

The Wilson Sandoz site makes medication for all prescriptive therapeutic categories, which includes antibiotics, treatments for central nervous system disorders, gastrointestinal medicines and cardiovascular treatments.

Unlike most pharmaceutical companies, the Wilson site of Sandoz takes a drug from start to finish -- conception, research and development, FDA approval, manufacturing, full-release testing, packaging and distribution.

The Wilson facility was originally built in 1994 by Novopharm. In 2000, the company was bought by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, which announced it would close the site. In 2001, the company was acquired by Hexal, which operated it as an Eon Labs facility during the next four years as the number of employees grew from 35 to nearly 300. Novartis acquired Hexal and Eon Labs in 2005 and integrated the Wilson site into its Sandoz generic pharmaceuticals operations.

After an addition in 2007, the plant is now 309,000 square feet.