Denver Manufacturing Jobs Cut by Drug Company

An up-and-coming drug maker has cut many Denver manufacturing jobs.

Allos Therapeutics recently laid off 25 employees, or about 13 percent percent of the company's total workforce. The majority of those job cuts affected research and administrative workers, as Allos plans to leave its sales and marketing staff in tact.

The company eliminated jobs in an effort to cut costs and place a stronger focus on sales. Allos, a drug manufacturing company, predicts the job cuts will save about $4 million per year. The company currently employs about 190 people.

The recent job cuts shouldn't have a large-scale effect on Denver's economy. During November 2010, the city's unemployment rate increased to 8.7, after remaining at 8.2 percent for two consecutive months. That rate was still lower than the national average at the time of 9.8 percent.

The Denver-Aurora-Broomfield area employed 1,194,200 workers during November, which is up from 1,192,400 workers during October and a .2 percent increase from the previous year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

According to an article by the Denver Business Journal, Allos is most well-known for its production of the drug Folotyn, which is meant to fight the growth of tumors by killing cancer cells. The drug has been approved for sale to patients who have advanced cases of relapse or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma.

So far, the company has delayed any effort to conduct clinical trials to determine whether or not Folotyn could be sued to treat other illnesses, such as non-small cell lung cancer. Instead, Allos is focusing on gaining regulatory approval to sell Folotyn in Europe.

Allos Therapeutics brought in a revenue of $11.8 million from Folotyn sales during Q4 2010, which is a 27 percent increase from Q3 2010. The company also has $98.6 million in cash and investments and has no current debt.