After more than a year of respirator recalls, it’s probably no surprise that Philips reported lower-than-expected revenues for the third quarter of this year. But that announcement also came with the revelation that the company is now laying off 4,000 workers and planning for even more restructuring. Fierce Medtech's Andrea Park discusses this latest news and digs into the long line of problems that led to this decision.
Philips' downward slide started last June, with the recall of CPAP and BiPAP machines used to treat sleep apnea. As of this July, the FDA tallied 168 related deaths, and as of mid-October there were at least 342 pending class action cases against the company.
To learn more about topics in this episode:
- Philips cuts 4,000 jobs, with more restructuring on the way, amid slipping sales and rising costs
- With FDA decision penciled in for May, GSK powers ahead in RSV race with Pfizer
- Johnson & Johnson doles out $16.6B to snatch up miniaturized heart pump maker Abiomed
- Thermo Fisher ties up $2.6B deal for cancer diagnostics maker The Binding Site
- Alkermes joins Bristol Myers in IL-2 exit with oncology business spinoff
- Pfizer boosts COVID vaccine projection to $34B on the back of strong Comirnaty haul
"The Top Line" is produced by senior multimedia producer Teresa Carey with managing editor Querida Anderson and senior editors Annalee Armstrong, Ben Adams, Conor Hale and Eric Sagonowsky. The sound engineer is Caleb Hodgson. The stories are by all our “Fierce” journalists. Like and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.