In November 2009, pharma giant Pfizer revealed it would lay off 600 of its 1,000 employees in St. Louis, MO, as part of a 15% reduction in its global work force following the $68 billion acquisition of drug maker Wyeth. But Pfizer’s loss is St. Louis University’s gain. SLU plans to tap the pool of laid-off scientists to launch a research center focused on discovering drugs to treat medical problems in the developing world. SLU has committed $5 million over the next two years to fund the Center for World Health & Medicine, which will launch in July, according to Raymond Tait, SLU’s vice president for research. Initially, the school plans to hire a dozen downsized Pfizer researchers. “We’re not going to compete with Pfizer and Wyeth,” Tait emphasizes. “We’re not going after blockbuster drugs.” Instead, the school plans to follow its Jesuit mission by helping underserved populations — for example, by targeting childhood diarrhea.<\/p>\n
Keeping many of the 1,700 to 2,000 local scientists and skilled technical workers who have been laid off in recent months is a high priority, adds Steve Johnson, senior vide president of the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association. “You don’t want to dehumanize people, but those are marketable assets for the region,” Johnson says. The scientists could help lure medical and technology firms to St. Louis, seed start-ups, and help launch research groups at local universities, he points out. In the meantime, SLU has started writing an application for a federal stimulus-funded research grant to help launch its Center. “We’ll see if we cannot make this viable,” Tait says. “Over time, we suspect we will get some intellectual property, but intellectual property is not the lifeblood.”<\/p>\n