Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceuticals, which has U.S. headquarters in Deerfield, Ill., cut field sales jobs and relocated a portion of its Deerfield workforce to the Boston area as part of a companywide reorganization, reports Crain's Chicago Business.
Here are six things to know about the reorganization.
1. Takeda said it announced in 2016 that its U.S. business unit would be focusing on the drugs Trintellix and Entyvio.
2. That strategic focus led to changes in the company's portfolio. "We've aligned our promotional resources to support this portfolio and in response to a consolidating healthcare environment," Takeda said. "Specifically, we've made changes to the size, structure and role of our field-based teams in the U.S. business unit."
3. The drugmaker confirmed these changes included cutting 480 field sales jobs nationwide. According to the report, the company said less than 10 of the affected jobs were based in the Chicago area, and the affected employees worked in Takeda's primary care business.
4. Takeda said the job cuts were a result of a shift in the product portfolio which affected the level of resource needed for promotional support. "Furthermore, the healthcare environment is consolidating, which also impacted our decision on the level of field support personnel," the company added.
5. Even with the changes, Takeda said it still has "a large, leading primary care field team in the United States" and now has "a strong presence in both specialty care and primary care."
6. In addition to the job cuts, Takeda in the last couple years moved its global research and development and vaccine business units from Deerfield to Cambridge, Mass., according to the report. Crain's Chicago Business reports this affected as many as 600 Deerfield-based R&D employees and 150 vaccines employees, according to sources. Takeda did not confirm that number with the publication.
Read the full report about the reorganization here.