Allergan To Lay Off 1,500 Employees

Allergan will reduce its workforce by 1,500, or about 13%, this year as part of a restructuring program it hopes will deliver $475 million in pretax savings in 2015. About 650 of the jobs are at the firm’s R&D facility in Irvine, Calif. Allergan, manufacturer of the cosmetic enhancer and drug Botox, made the announcement while reporting a 15.9% increase in second-quarter sales compared with last year to $1.8 billion. Meanwhile, the company continues to fend off a hostile acquisition bid by Valeant Pharmaceuticals, calling Valeant’s latest offer of $53 billion in cash and stock “grossly inadequate.”