Teva Pharmaceuticals to lay off 41 at Rockland plant

Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. recently announced a round of layoffs at its Pomona manufacturing plant in Rockland County due to economic losses.

About 41 employees will be laid off by the end of July, according to a notice filed with the state Department of Labor under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. The layoffs started March 31.

In January, Teva officials announced plans to close a unit at the plant April 3, affecting 11 workers.The company had planned to transfer its manufacturing operations to another site. It is unknown whether those plans have been followed. 

At that time, there were 100 employees in manufacturing and 325 workers on site. Company officials said the layoffs would be complete in two years.

According to other news reports, the layoffs come as the company, headquartered in Israel, prepares for two major events. The U.S. Supreme Court will soon rule whether the company has the right to produce generic versions of  drugs after their U.S. patents expire. And in May, the patent on one of its most lucrative drugs, Copaxone, will expire.