U.K.-based drug giant AstraZeneca (NYSE: [[ticker:AZN]]) is planning to lay off 135 employees at its facility in Westborough, MA, starting at the end of May and continuing through the end of 2011. The news was reported today by the Boston Business Journal, which cites a notice to state labor officials. The Westborough plant, which makes supply and packaging for allergy and asthma drugs, among other products, went through a previous round of layoffs in 2009, according to the report. Before that, AstraZeneca employed some 1,000 workers in the state between the Westborough plant and an R&D center in Waltham, MA. The new layoffs are part of a broader corporate restructuring (including 3,500 job cuts worldwide) that was announced in early 2010.
Author: Gregory T. Huang
Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003.
Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
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