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Local Tech Wire
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – Drug giant (NYSE: GSK) is shuttering two more production plants that it acquired as part of its $2.9 billion takeover of earlier this year.
GSK delivered two hammer blows to the ranks of Stiefel’s workers Wednesday, announcing the shutdown of a plant in Durham, N.Y. and another in Ireland.
The New York plant will close by 2012, according to GSK. It is used to manufacture skin care products. Some 270 people work at the facility.
Earlier in the day, GSK disclosed that it would shut down its operation in Sligo, Ireland, within four years. Some 250 people work at that plant. It also made various dermatology products.
GSK closed on the acquisition of Stiefel four months ago. It is also shuttering an operation in Georgia and moving some of the affected jobs to the Stiefel research-and-development lab that is based in RTP.
GSK maintains its U.S. headquarters in RTP and employs some 4,000 people in the Triangle area.
According to the Irish Times newspaper, GSK said the Ireland plant is being closed due to “underutilized capacity.” Stiefel opened the facility in 1975.
In New York, The Daily Mail newspaper in Catskill reported that the Stiefel workers were assembled on a shipping ramp and told about the closure.
The employees were sent home for the rest of the day with pay.
Stiefel has operated in the New York region since 1945.
