New Haven-based Alexion pharmaceuticals, the company that specializes in the treatment of rare diseases, has been undergoing some turmoil in its executive ranks. That news is raising questions about the drug-maker's stability, and what it could mean for the city.
Shares in the company started dropping this week after the biopharmaceutical company announced changes to its management team. On their way out are the chief financial officer, chief human resources officer, head of research and development, and the chief commercial officer.
The reshaping of the organization by the company’s new CEO follows an investigation into sales practices.
But city officials aren’t concerned.
Matthew Nemerson, New Haven’s Economic Development Administrator, said he sees these developments as a hiccup in a fast growing multi-billion dollar global company.
“I think we have to sort of separate the science and the therapeutic breakthroughs that are coming through from New Haven and the fact that they have foreign offices and they have people who are representing them around the world who may occasionally stumble," said Nemerson.
Alexion and its 450,000-square-foot office building are the centerpiece of the city’s Downtown Crossing development project.
While the city remains optimistic about Alexion’s future, Nemerson pointed out that New Haven is attracting high tech companies every day. Should the business leave, he said there would be another to takes its place.
