The Irish company that acquired Procter & Gamble Co.‘s pharmaceutical division last year is shutting its Mason, Ohio, office to boost its operational effectiveness, cutting about 250 jobs, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Warner Chilcott plc plans to consolidate the work done in Mason at its U.S. headquarters in Rockaway, N. J., according to an internal memo obtained by the Enquirer. Some workers at the office will be offered jobs in New Jersey; other workers will be given severance, the newspaper reported.
The memo also said the company would close its 24-person research office in Norwich, N. Y., according to the Enquirer.
Warner Chilcott’s $3.1 billion acquisition of the former P&G division in October solved a problem for the Cincinnati consumer products giant. Prescription drugs like Actonel, Asacol and Enablex had gone from boon to burden as profits dropped and regulations increased.
Yet it was those three drugs that propelled Warner Chilcott of Ardee, Ireland, to fourth-quarter revenue of $686.2 million, an increase of $443.7 million, or 183 percent, over the same quarter in 2008, the company said in its March 1 earnings statement.
Procter & Gamble kept over-the-counter brands like upset stomach drug Pepto-Bismol, heartburn drug Prilosec OTC, and Vicks cold and flu products, which had risen to the top of its health care product portfolio in recent years.