Pfizer cuts 660 at Exubera plant

Workers at Pfizer's Terre Haute, Indiana, plant where the ill-fated Exubera was made are, shall we say, less than exuberant today. The company has decided to cut 660 jobs there; after all, it's not making the inhaled insulin product anymore, so those staffers aren't needed. In fact, they've been on paid leave since Exubera production stopped in October [1].

Pfizer will start letting workers go in March and all 660 will get the adios by mid-year. Some 140 other workers will be kept on, because they work on other products at the plant. Unfortunately, however, those products are antibiotics--and declining demand for them may spell doom for the plant in the long term.

State and local officials are reeling from the announcement. Pfizer spent $300 million upgrading the plant over the last five years, so they'd been crossing their fingers that the company would move a new product line there. But that multimillion-dollar technology is specific to Exubera, so it's not easily adapted to manufacturing other meds.

- read the layoff report [2] from the Indianapolis Star
- here's more [3] on the plant's long-term future

Related Articles:
Pfizer kills off Exubera, hunts for deals. Report [1]
Pfizer gives Nektar $135M for Exubera settlement. Report [4]
Exubera becoming a big disappointment for Pfizer. Report [5]
UK: Exubera not worth the price. Report [6]
FDA approves Pfizer's inhaled insulin. Report [7]