Pennsylvania lost 2,900 pharmaceutical jobs — or nearly 20 percent — in recent years, as big drugmakers shed workers to cut costs, consolidate, or relocate to other states.
While jobs in big pharma declined — Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, and AstraZeneca have all laid off in the region — Pennsylvania life-sciences jobs overall were up slightly, 0.6 percent, in the last five years, according to a report released Tuesday by Life Sciences Pennsylvania, an industry trade group.
Across the country, pharmaceutical manufacturers shed less than 2 percent of their employment, “illustrating that Pennsylvania has become less attractive for pharmaceutical manufacturers compared with other regions of the country during the last five years,” said the report prepared by tax and audit firm KPMG.
Image: Paratek Pharmaceuticals president and chief operating officer Evan Loh is one of nearly a dozen former pharma executives and scientists who are heading start-ups in Pennsylvania. Loh is a former Wyeth and Pfizer executive. - http://www.philly.com
