GLaxo U.S. HQ goes to RTP

[Big M]

Originally Posted by mdp_az

In the long term (think 2013 and beyond) this is good news, however in the short term its just news. Along with this announcement, GSK also announced that it is cutting a large portion of our sales organization. F

Yep, 1000 is the number I have read...

GlaxoSmithKline trims U.S. sales force by 1,000 - Nov. 5, 2008 (http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/05/news/companies/gsk.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008110514 - broken link)


Personally, I wish some of these drug companies would focus on more life threatening disorders rather than "Restless Leg syndrome" or "Adult ADD". I would be a bit more sympathetic with their plight if they did.

M

[mdp_az]

Originally Posted by Big M

Yep, 1000 is the number I have read...

GlaxoSmithKline trims U.S. sales force by 1,000 - Nov. 5, 2008 (http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/05/news/companies/gsk.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008110514 - broken link)


Personally, I wish some of these drug companies would focus on more life threatening disorders rather than "Restless Leg syndrome" or "Adult ADD". I would be a bit more sympathetic with their plight if they did.

M

Two of GSK's major growth areas are in vaccines (disease prevention) & oncolytics (cancer treatment).

Also, I'd guess that if you suffered with RLS, you wouldn't be complaining about a drug company investing many millions of dollars to develop a safe and effective treatment option for you.

[Emitchell]

Originally Posted by Big M

Personally, I wish some of these drug companies would focus on more life threatening disorders rather than "Restless Leg syndrome" or "Adult ADD". I would be a bit more sympathetic with their plight if they did. M

When drug companies are working on new discoveries, they usually are hopeful that it can be used for other treatments. Many times those “other” uses are quite unexpected.

Viagra was originally developed to treat chest pains by increasing blood flow to the heart. Then they discovered it increased blood flow elsewhere, too. The anti-smoking drug Zyban is basically re-packaged Welbutrin, an anti-depressant. During trials they discovered that it affected people’s smoking habits.

If it works for a different ailment and they think it’s marketable, chances are they’ll give it a try.

Getting back to the topic, The rough waters for the whole industry are certainly not over.

[solarity]

Originally Posted by Big M

Personally, I wish some of these drug companies would focus on more life threatening disorders rather than "Restless Leg syndrome" or "Adult ADD".

Wow, I don't even know where to begin... I find your post narrow-minded and ill-conceived. I'm flabbergasted that anyone would think this. And is somewhat offensive to anyone who suffers a condition, no matter how painful, yet isn't "life-threatening".

Nor does it give any feeling for all the people who are going to be laid off or for the people who have to wonder if they will have a job tomorrow. The people who work there are not "big-pharma", they are local people trying to earn an income for their families.

Back on topic - This was news to me. Guess I should visit the company home page a bit more frequently. I didn't realize the Phili site was so much smaller. It does seem to be sort of non-news but we'll see how this plays out. Definitely a bumpy road ahead.

[jjg39069]

Originally Posted by sneezecake

This means nothing - it's just a designation. It's more bad news for PA than it is good news for NC.

Sneezecake calls it right on.