Takeda Pharmaceutical has absorbed only part of the nearly 300-employee workforce it inherited when it acquired Ariad Pharmaceuticals earlier this year, though exactly how many of the staffers it will ultimately hire has yet to be determined.
Amy Atwood, Takeda’s director, global oncology public relations, said the company is retaining at least 120 of the roughly 300 Ariad employees who were based at its Cambridge, MA, headquarters, in positions that match their old jobs. Another 50 Ariad staffers are expected to be hired by the pharma giant’s CRO partner PRA Health Sciences.
Those 50 are among 180 Ariad employees whose jobs are slated for elinination after Takeda acquired Ariad for $5.2 billion, a deal announced January 9 and completed February 16. However, more of those 180 could be hired by Takeda, since the pharma has assigned them priority application status over any external candidates for future openings—so the number of Ariad staffers who will ultimately be idled is expected to shrink, Atwood said.
“The majority of folks will have left us by the summer,” Atwood told GEN.
Positions to be eliminated run across the board and include R&D, administrative, and support roles, as Ariad was a fully integrated company.
In a statement, Takeda said it is making resources available for Ariad staffers who do not find new jobs with Takeda or PRA.
“Companies coming together in a merger often experience overlaps in job responsibilities, and this is the case with Takeda’s acquisition of Ariad,” Takeda stated. “We took time to make thoughtful, strategic decisions, and at this time, all legacy Ariad employees have been informed of the status of their jobs. We are confident that the legacy Ariad employees transitioning to Takeda will help create one, strong team dedicated to achieving our vision of curing cancer.”
