Roche Cuts Jobs After Diabetes Sales Plunge

In the United States, blood-glucose monitoring has been a declining business since sales peaked in 2007 at nearly $3 billion, according to data from San Francisco-based market research firm Close Concerns Inc.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced earlier this year it was cutting the reimbursement for diabetes test supplies by up to 72%.

Plunging revenue from its blood-glucose monitors has forced Roche Diagnostics Corp. to cut its staff, the company informed its workers last week.

Roche, which operates its North American headquarters in Indianapolis, suffered a 14-percent decline in revenue in its diabetes care unit during the first six months of the year. Roche has reportedly put that unit up for sale, according to a May report by the Reuters news agency.

After the cuts, the company will have about 3,000 employees in Central Indiana, the home of its U.S. diagnostics operations

Article Source: IBJ