Biotech company Amgen said last night it would cut 2,200 to 2,600 jobs, or 12 per cent to 14 per cent of its workforce, as it grapples with declining sales of its best-selling anemia drug Aranesp.
However, a spokeswoman for the world's biggest biotechnology company by sales said that the decision will not affect its Irish operation or its plans to build an €820 million factory in Carrigtwohill by 2012.
This expansion will result in the employment of 1,100, people.
Following a review, the operational date for this factory was pushed back by two years from the original target.
Last night Amgen also cut its 2007 adjusted earnings guidance to a range of $4.13 to $4.23 per share from $4.28 per share.
As Amgen has milked its anemia franchise, analysts said rivals like Genentech, which now has a bigger market capitalisation than Amgen, have turned out innovative products that will drive growth.
Plans to cut research spending unnerved some analysts, who say the once-pioneering company is losing its edge.
Amgen's shares have shed about 26 per cent of their value so far this year, compared with a decline of 0.1 per cent in the American Stock Exchange Biotech Index.
Investors appeared to take little comfort from the cost-cutting plan, and Amgen shares were roughly flat in extended trade after closing down 73 cents at $50.59 on Nasdaq.