Report: Layoffs Hit Elan

Elan, the Dublin, Ireland-based drugmaker that co-manufactures Biogen Idec’s (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri and has a major R&D operation in South San Francisco, is cutting staff, according to a late-Tuesday report from Reuters. The news organization said Elan is laying off approximately 130 people, or 10 percent of its total workforce, with most of the cuts occurring at the South San Francisco facility. About half of the people losing their jobs were scientists, Reuters said. The company reported losses of almost $260 million for the first nine months of 2010, and it stock has suffered an 80 percent decline since mid-2008.

Author: Wade Roush

Between 2007 and 2014, I was a staff editor for Xconomy in Boston and San Francisco. Since 2008 I've been writing a weekly opinion/review column called VOX: The Voice of Xperience. (From 2008 to 2013 the column was known as World Wide Wade.) I've been writing about science and technology professionally since 1994. Before joining Xconomy in 2007, I was a staff member at MIT’s Technology Review from 2001 to 2006, serving as senior editor, San Francisco bureau chief, and executive editor of TechnologyReview.com. Before that, I was the Boston bureau reporter for Science, managing editor of supercomputing publications at NASA Ames Research Center, and Web editor at e-book pioneer NuvoMedia. I have a B.A. in the history of science from Harvard College and a PhD in the history and social study of science and technology from MIT. I've published articles in Science, Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Technology and Culture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and World Business, and I've been a guest of NPR, CNN, CNBC, NECN, WGBH and the PBS NewsHour. I'm a frequent conference participant and enjoy opportunities to moderate panel discussions and on-stage chats. My personal site: waderoush.com My social media coordinates: Twitter: @wroush Facebook: facebook.com/wade.roush LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/waderoush Google+ : google.com/+WadeRoush YouTube: youtube.com/wroush1967 Flickr: flickr.com/photos/wroush/ Pinterest: pinterest.com/waderoush/