Roche's Job Cuts in NJ Will Total 300

Roche, AG, based in Basel, counts Xenical, a diet drug, and Tamiflu, for treatment of flu, as its best known prescriptions. The Nutley unit's claim to fame is that it's where Valium was developed some 45 years ago. The fact that the pharmaceutical giant has been slow to bring new preparations to market and the resulting impact on cash flow, have caused the rumors to circulate about its future. In terms of its facilities, its 130-acre headquarters/research/manufacturing (Xenical and Accutane, an acne-treatment drug) operations campus in Nutley will remain intact for now. Company officials would not comment further to GlobeSt.com on possible disposition of any properties.

Two interesting developments for the market include that fact that while the pharmaceutical business has continued to expand in what is commonly called "America's medicine cabinet" despite the economy's and real estate market's flattening, Hoffman-LaRoche's cuts are the industry's first setback in New Jersey. Firms like Schering-Plough and Novartis have embarked on expansive new building programs, and Aventis and Pharmacia have established new headquarters facilities.

The second development is the fact that Novartis, also based in Switzerland, but with its North American operations based in the Garden state, quietly paid an estimated $2.8 billion for a 20% share in Roche AG within the last few weeks. That investment has quickly led to speculation that it may be a prelude to a possible takeover of Hoffmann-La Roche by Novartis. Company officials would also not comment on that matter which, if it occurred, would likely lead to a consolidation of redundant facilities in North America, and especially in New Jersey.

For Roche, "it doesn't look very good right now," one staffer told GlobeSt.com. "We haven't been told who's out of a job, but we're going to find out this week. Morale is very low, because a lot of people are 'on the bubble'."