Merck Research Laboratories plans to cut jobs at two New Jersey locations and a Pennsylvania screening facility as it shifts resources to biomedical research hotspots near Boston and San Francisco.
The pharmaceutical giant's pre-clinical, discovery and early development group will eliminate the jobs or shift the locations of "less than 10 percent," or up to 360 members, of its 3,600-employee team, Merck spokeswoman Lainie Keller said.
As part of Merck's strategy to increase investment in exploratory biology, Keller said the company is seeking earlier access to emerging research and technology.
"Unfortunately, these changes will result in workforce reductions at our Kenilworth and Rahway, N.J., sites and our North Wales, Pa., screening facility as we shift resources and personnel," she said.
Keller declined to give an exact number of staff members who will be impacted but said Merck employs about 7,400 people in New Jersey, where the pharmaceutical industry is among the biggest employers.
erck's New Jersey locations have seen an eventful few years. The company once had its global headquarters in Readington Township but pulled out in 2012 with plans to move the hub to Summit, 30 miles northeast.
A year later, however, the company shuttered its Summit location and announced intentions to transform its Kenilworth campus into its new headquarters. The 100-acre facility remains Merck's nerve center today.
In Union, Kean University and a development company are engaged in a tug-of-war over ownership of a former Merck property across the street from the campus. Recent negotiations have centered on the possibility of Kean obtaining a part of the 46-acre plot.