Job losses connected to loss in a patent infringement lawsuit last year. Profits up. Reproductive medicine division untouched.
BY RON SHINKMAN
Ferring Pharmaceuticals, the Swiss-based drug manufacturer that globally distributes several drugs critical for successful IVF cycles, is laying off as many as 500 employees, although none appear to be in the company’s fertility division.
The cuts would represent a little more than 8% of its worldwide workforce of about 6,000 employees.
Reproductive Medicine Division Spared
Ferring spokesperson Patrick Gorman told Inside Reproductive Health that “a number of positions in the U.S. gastroenterology franchise have been eliminated,” but that “there has been no impact to our reproductive medicine” division”.
Ferring, which is based in Saint-Prex, Switzerland and has U.S. headquarters in New Jersey, said in a statement that the jobs cuts are the result of “a company-wide initiative designed to sharpen strategic focus, improve cost efficiencies, flexibility, and free up resources for reinvestment in innovation, while promoting its financial stability and sustainable growth.” The U.S. is Ferring’s largest market, comprising about half of its revenue last year.
The company distributes injectable menotropins under the product name Menopur; injectable chorionic gondatropin under the name Novarel; and a progesterone insert under the name Endometrin.
Ferring’s Blockbuster Drug, Menopur, Now Has Competition
Menopur, which contains both a follicle stimulating hormone and a luteinizing hormone, is Ferring’s blockbuster product. It generated just over $1 billion in revenue for the company last year. Revenue from Menopur was up 14.2% compared to 2023.
EMD Serono, which recently agreed to sell three of its fertility-related drugs at deep discounts through the recently announced TrumpRx initiative, is also developing Pergoveris, a drug that functions similarly to Menopur. EMD Serono said the drug has been submitted to the FDA for a fast-track approval under the agency’s recently launched National Priority Voucher program.
Court Ruling Against Ferring a Cause For Layoffs
The gastroenterology division has been in turmoil as of late, at least partly the result of a patent infringement lawsuit Ferring brought against Finch Therapeutics Group in federal court in Delaware in December 2021.
The suit claimed Finch was infringing on patents for a Ferring fecal transplant product called Rebyota that treats C. difficile, an often deadly bacterial infection commonly contracted by hospital patients. However, Finch filed a countersuit against Ferring, and prevailed last year when the jury ruled Ferring was the party actually infringing on Finch’s patents. Finch was awarded a $25 million judgment in its favor, and Ferring was also ordered to pay royalties on future Rebyota sales.
After the outcome, Ferring reassessed Rebyota’s future. On Oct. 29,the company stated “Ferring will reduce (commercialization efforts for Rebyota) in the United States while ensuring uninterrupted access for patients.”
Aside from the patent infringement issue, Ferring, which is privately held by its chairman Frederik Paulsen, does not appear to be under any significant financial duress. For calendar 2024, it reported net income from operations of $161.8 million on revenue of $2.7 billion. That compares to 2023, when it reported net income of $132 million on revenue of $2.6 billion.
Including income from investments, Ferring reported total income of $298.8 million last year, compared to a 2024 loss of $26.5 million.