Biotech giant Amgen Inc. Wednesday announced it will lay off about 380 employees, including 226 from its Thousand Oaks headquarters, in a bid to restructure its research and development operations. The company employed 6,200 in Thousand Oaks and 17,600 globally, as of July. All layoffs are coming from research and development, and employees in Thousand Oaks were notified Wednesday, said Amgen spokeswoman Christine Regan. As more molecules, or drugs, have moved into later stages in the pipeline — a more expensive phase — and the economy struggles, the layoffs will help the company focus its scarce dollars on its upcoming products, said Amgen spokeswoman Mary Klem. For more on this story, read the upcoming edition of the San Fernando Valley Business Journal.
