Science in the Triangle

GlaxoSmithKline wants to scale back research and development and the cuts could affect jobs at the British drugmaker’s U.S. headquarters in Research Triangle Park, IBM unveils the $360 million cloud computing center it established on its RTP campus and a Durham startup reels in $10.5 million in venture capital and a deal with Burlington-based medical testing giant LabCorp.

GSK eyes more cuts in R&D

The cutbacks at large drugmakers have been a steady drumbeat for more than two years. In 2008, the industry shed about 44,000 jobs, followed by 59,000 last year, according to industry publication FiercePharma. This year, the cuts continue - AstraZeneca plans to shed 8,000 over four years, Novartis wants to reduce headcount by 2,500 this year and GSK is expected to eliminate 3,000 to 4,000 jobs worldwide.

Sales jobs were hit hardest when the industry-wide restructuring began in 2007, but R&D is now becoming the focus of the cost cutting. Nearly half of the cuts AstraZeneca announced last week will be in R&D and R&D jobs are expected to also account for nearly half of GSK’s cutbacks. On Thursday, GSK announced it is targeting R&D expenses but not which research centers will be affected or how many jobs are at risk.

First clues that the cuts may hit European GSK sites, where the company does much of its work on pain and depression, here. Researchers at GSK’s site in RTP focus on HIV/AIDS and infectious diseases.

In RTP and at its Zebulon manufacturing plant, GSK employs about 5,000 in sales, marketing, research and production.

Increasing competition from cheaper generic drugs and drugmakers’ inability to replace the lost sales are fueling the upheaval in the pharmaceutical industry in the U.S. and Europe. Meanwhile, countries with significantly lower labor costs, such as China, India and Brazil, are benefiting. For example, GSK has invested heavily to establish an R&D center with about 1,500 employees in China.

IBM unveils cloud computing center

IBM unveiled a $360 million data center on its RTP campus. The center will support cloud computing services for customers.

The data center is one of several efforts in the RTP area to scale up the ability to store and crunch increasing amounts of data.

Interest in cloud computing, which taps existing computing capacity like utilities tap electricity from a grid according to demand, is particularly keen among researchers and organizations working in the public health arena.

More information about cloud computing efforts in RTP here.

Durham startup snags cash and a deal

CancerGuide Diagnostics, a Durham startup, raised $10.5 million in venture capital and signed a deal with LabCorp, the medical testing giant based in Burlington.

The startup will be working on tests that allow oncologists to pick treatments best for each cancer patient. LabCorp will support CancerGuide Diagnostics in its efforts and own a stake in the startup, which is headed by Dr. Myla Lai-Goldman, LabCorp’s former chief medical officer.

Other investors were Intersouth Partners and Hatteras Venture Partners, two Durham venture capital firms.