It now seems likely that these operations will close altogether. Per Reuters reporting, overnight:
. . . .But on Wednesday [Merck] said it had not been able to come up with a feasible business plan for the Dutch-based R&D activities. . . .
Merck did not name the parties involved, but media reports have indicated that Aspen Pharmacare, Africa's biggest generic drug maker, Japan's Takeda, and Dutch bioscience firm Pantarhei had bid for parts of the business.
MSD-Organon is now looking at whether it can retain any of the R&D jobs within Merck. It said Organon's drugs and biologics business will remain an important part of the company. . . .
So, next up is an orderly process (via Dutch law) of Works Council meetings to close out the operations, and establish the long-term, multi-year severance packages for the workers. So the story of the last years of Schering-Plough in the Netherlands is one of very capable scientists, and very able line workers -- all ultimately failed by atrociously self-aggrandizing senior executives in Kenilworth, New Jersey: Hassan, Cox, Bertolini, Saunders, Sabatino and Koestler.
Truly sad. And largely avoidable -- this is plainly yet another Fred Hassan "hangover" item (see full updated table of these Hassan blunders, here). His eyes were obviously bigger than his brain, when he bought Organon (on behalf of Schering-Plough). He seemed to think size and scale, alone would be enough -- sans long term strategic fit.
What a monumental failure his tenure has turned out to be, no? But as he told us, worry not, for him -- ha was sure to take care of himself.
8 comments:
The works council is taking MSD/Merck to court, because in their view Merck has not honored the agreement to find a new business opportunity for the Oss site. Apparently a deal with a buyer was almost reached, and then canceled by Merck. See this article in a Dutch financial newspaper for details: fd.nl/artikel/21438801/or-bonden-rvc-willen-overnamekandidaat-organon-weer-beeld-brengen
"Multi-year severance packages" - seriously??? No wonder all the European R&D sites are closing down... Employers need some flexibility in hiring/firing. I would never EVER open up a buisness site in Europe knowing that I would have to pay such crazy severance packages. US big-pharma severance that I have typically heard of is 4-12 months. (even after decades of service)
For many younger people the severance package will be less than a year. The base rule is one month per year of employment. For employment years above the age of 40 or 50 a multiplier of 1.5 or 2, respectively, is applied.
More destruction is sure to follow both in EU and US when the Merial/Intervet-Schering-Plough deal is executed.
I think the deal collapsed on the fact that the party that wanted to buy the activities in oss, would too buy the name Organon NV that holds all the patents, buildings and registration of products. Besides the loss of sales 500 niljon dollars, there would be a write off of 8 billion dollars.
This thought would make the CFO of Merck ready for all anti-depression products Merck has in stock.
We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow, and if we have remembered that, they have never failed to appear. The better we have remembered it, the larger they have been.
— George W(ilhelm) Merck
Address to the Medical College of Virginia, Richmond (1 Dec 1950). Quoted in James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras, Built to Last (1994, 1997), 48.
I just made the above Merck-family-founders' quote part of the masthead, here. . . .
Thank you all!
Namaste
maybe that quote will help the works council and union court case now scheduled for March 4th..
Not that anyone should expect the case to change anything other than delaying the inevitable further.
Post a Comment