March 11th, 2009

Reports the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Who has time to peer into a microscope when everyone at work is standing around talking about their search for new jobs?

A merger and accompanying job cuts can distract employees at any company. But that risk may be greater at drug companies, which depend on years of diligent research for tomorrow’s profits, several experts said.

Merck & Co. on Monday announced plans to acquire Schering-Plough Corp. In January, Pfizer Inc. said it would buy Wyeth.

In mergers like these, scientists often leave or lose their jobs. Those who remain may have to cope with a large bureaucracy that stifles innovation, said Joseph Schlessinger, chairman of the pharmacology department at Yale’s School of Medicine. He started three smaller biotech companies and worked at a large pharmaceutical firm, Rhone-Poulenc-Rorer.

“It’s impossible to organize and be productive while running such a large group of scientists,” Schlessinger said. “They stop working and they talk all the time and they start to look for jobs and they are really worried. It’s extremely counterproductive for a long time, and it’s demoralizing.”

Read more at the Inquirer.