New Delhi, January 10(Reuters): U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc said on Wednesday it wasshutting down two manufacturing plants in India that make generic injectableslike penicillin in response to falling demand.
The company employs around1,700 workers at the two factories in the states of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra- nearly 6 percent of Pfizer's global manufacturing workforce.
"Pfizer has conducted athorough evaluation of the ... sites in India and concluded that due to thevery significant long term loss of product demand, manufacturing at these sitesis not viable," the company said in an emailed statement.
Pfizer acquired the sites aspart of its $15 billion purchase of Hospira Inc in 2015, to boost its portfolioof generic injectable drugs and copies of biotech medicines.
The company is also closing aHospira research and development lab in Taramani, Chennai, but spokesman StevenDanehy said that was unrelated to the shutdown of the two plants.
The roughly 150 employees atthat facility were informed of that shutdown in the fourth quarter, he said.
The plant in Chennai makesgeneric injectable cephalosporin, penems and penicillin. The Maharashtra plantsupplied the Chennai unit with certain products.
Both plants do not manufactureproducts for the India market, Pfizer said, adding that it is expandingoperations in its Visakhapatnam facility in south India.
