Calbiochem Workers to Be Laid Off and Some Rehired
Calbiochem, a Torrey Pines-based biochemical company, is laying off all of its 120 employees, but an unspecified number of them will be hired back by its owner-to-be, Swiss-based Biodor Holding AG, a Calbiochem official said Thursday.
Calbiochem’s parent, Hoechst Celanese Corp., announced Jan. 22 that it was selling Calbiochem to Biodor, a closely held biochemical and pharmaceutical company based in Laeufelfingen, Switzerland. Hoechst officials then declined to disclose the sale price or comment on the fate of Calbiochem employees.
On Thursday, a Calbiochem executive who asked not to be identified said the mass layoffs were a necessary part of Hoechst’s sales agreement with Biodor, but that Biodor’s plan all along has been to rehire a number of the employees after the sale becomes final Sunday. The official said he did not know specifically how many would be hired back.
The official denied published reports that Biodor was planning on stopping all Calbiochem manufacturing operations in Torrey Pines. Calbiochem makes a line of specialty biochemicals used principally in research.
Hoechst acquired Calbiochem and Behring Diagnostics in 1977 as units of Calbiochem Corp. Both companies formerly occupied the same site on Torrey Pines.
Discouraged by Behring’s “consistent losses,” Hoechst transferred the Behring Diagnostics operation to Hoechst’s Bridgewater, N.J., headquarters, resulting in the layoff and transfer of more than 120 employees.
