NPS Pharmaceuticals Deals Blow to Guv's Economic Plan

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) A company oft-admired as the poster-child for the Utah's thriving medical research industry is laying off 45 Salt Lake employees and moving its headquarters to New Jersey. That news from NPS Pharmaceuticals is a blow to Governor Huntsman's economic development strategy, which highlights "life sciences" as a key area of Utah's expertise. Greg Jones, State Science Advisor in the Governor's Office of Economic Development downplays the impact of the layoffs at NPS.

A spokesperson for NPS Pharmaceuticals says the company reduction is a result of delays in approval from the Federal Drug Administration for one of its drugs. Perhaps more troubling to Jones is a spokesperson's comment that NPS has had a hard time recruiting top executives to live in Salt Lake City.

"One of the hardest things about Utah is a lot of our industries are young and nascent," says Jones. "When you are recruited at a high level, you want to have enough companies that if it doesn't work out there, you don't want to have to move again."

Jones says a preponderance of university-based research makes the life sciences one of Utah's most well-developed industry clusters. Regardless, NPS Pharmaceuticals will reduce its Salt Lake workforce to 76 positions from the current 120, and lease out half of its 92,000 square foot facility at Research Park.

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