Roche Carolina

[anonymous]

Any of the former RCLT or FLT still around? Is it true that the "Seeking opportunities outside of Roche" Irix squad has taken over?

 

[anonymous]

Yes, MS is seeking opportunities

Hopefully he was well rewarded for his back stabbing penny pinching ways and helping to run off many of those that could have helped the Site.

 

[anonymous]

Now I see where Roche sold (likely paid another company via supply agreements just like they spent 60 Mio to get Patheon to take over the Florence site) the Leganes dosage form site and "saved" 200 jobs. I wonder if the employees there who were let go got screwed out of their separation agreements (when the site was to be mothballed) the same way they screwed the RCI employees who were let go. Broken promises.

 

[mcflo]

Are any Patheon drugs being manufactured yet? Why is it taking so long? I thought Patheon were supposed to be fast.

Patheon IS fast; Legacy Roche is not.

 

[anonymous]

Man, being a legacy roche person must be great. It's like being on welfare, except you get a corporate paycheck!

Get moving or get out of the way.

 

[anonymous]

Can't see why Roche could not fill up the site. New projects coming in every couple of weeks. Site over 50 % full for next year already!

 

[anonymous]

Newsflash-the site operating at 50% capacity won't come close to being profitable.

 

[anonymous]

50 % huh? Roche commitments represent 1/3 of capacity. Sooo the fast moving culture has added commitments for 1/6 of the prior capacity in over 8 months while adding 45 M in depreciation costs. Can you say write-off and lay-off?

 

[anonymous]

Are any of the legacy Roche products still manufactured here? Is there still a Small Scale Manufacturing suite?

 

[anonymous]

Re-commissioning the pilot plant. Biggest challenge is getting rid of the ridiculous Genentech quality system and designing what is practical for an API site. All remaining Roche Carolina employees got their 2 year stay bonus. Take or pay agreement is expired.

 

[anonymous]

Re-commissioning the pilot plant. Biggest challenge is getting rid of the ridiculous Genentech quality system and designing what is practical for an API site. All remaining Roche Carolina employees got their 2 year stay bonus. Take or pay agreement is expired.

It seems that all the Roche small molecule sites were pushed down an extreme quality regime, to the detriment of more important aspects of small molecule production. All the small molecule sites are now closing one by one.

The total focus on extreme quality procedures has damaged the sites, making them difficult to sell. Potential buyers are interested in high grade modern equipment as the number one priority. A bunch of sop’s that slow down production and add costs are worse than useless. Ironically, if Roche invested more in modern equipment, quality standards would be much easier to improve. However, focusing on higher quality standards through sop’s is a refuge for talentless management.

 

[anonymous]

Tons of experience recently left once they got their "stay bonus". Some left without giving any notice. Transition to CMO not going very smoothly.

 

[anonymous]

Face it folks, we work for IRIX now. What a change.

 

[anonymous]

I left in 2016. I know Brandon Shealy left recently for a director role. He is a wonderful guy and very deserving of such a role.

I haven’t had much contact with anyone else. Who else from legacy RCI has left?

 

[anonymous]

Re-commissioning the pilot plant. Biggest challenge is getting rid of the ridiculous Genentech quality system and designing what is practical for an API site. All remaining Roche Carolina employees got their 2 year stay bonus. Take or pay agreement is expired.

Just a couple of years ago there were all these posts about the Great Genentech Quality Systems and all the tools, know how and systems they brought in. Where are all the Genentech loyalists and supporters?

 

[anonymous]

It seems that all the Roche small molecule sites were pushed down an extreme quality regime, to the detriment of more important aspects of small molecule production. All the small molecule sites are now closing one by one.

The total focus on extreme quality procedures has damaged the sites, making them difficult to sell. Potential buyers are interested in high grade modern equipment as the number one priority. A bunch of sop’s that slow down production and add costs are worse than useless. Ironically, if Roche invested more in modern equipment, quality standards would be much easier to improve. However, focusing on higher quality standards through sop’s is a refuge for talentless management.

There was a time where people with API experiences and knowledge were key. Then there was a key break in leadership where API experience was replaced by the puppets who spewed nonsense and those who drank the kool-aid. Ultimately you have to know something about the business to run it. A hard lesson learned.

 

[anonymous]

Re-commissioning the pilot plant. Biggest challenge is getting rid of the ridiculous Genentech quality system and designing what is practical for an API site. All remaining Roche Carolina employees got their 2 year stay bonus. Take or pay agreement is expired.

Let the layoffs, pay cuts and mass exodus begin. Fewer people, lower skill and lower pay on their way. Welcome to true CMO work. Benefits slashing is next.

 

[anonymous]

Ex-RCI here. I see there are a lot of jobs open at the old RCI site, especially in quality. Has the capacity been filled to such an extent that all these new positions are needed?

I see also on LinkedIn that there are a lot of people working there fresh out of undergrad or grad school. How are the salaries there compared to legacy Roche? Hiring so many kids makes me think that either turnover is high or salaries or low. What is the work culture like?

Are you still manufacturing much Capecitabine?

Is anything going on with the Small Scale Manufacturing Suites? I'm assuming that Pegasys is totally dead and Mircera is close to dead, if not already.

Miss you guys. RCI was a great place to work at it's prime.

 

[anonymous]

Ex-RCI here. I see there are a lot of jobs open at the old RCI site, especially in quality. Has the capacity been filled to such an extent that all these new positions are needed?

I see also on LinkedIn that there are a lot of people working there fresh out of undergrad or grad school. How are the salaries there compared to legacy Roche? Hiring so many kids makes me think that either turnover is high or salaries or low. What is the work culture like?

Are you still manufacturing much Capecitabine?

Is anything going on with the Small Scale Manufacturing Suites? I'm assuming that Pegasys is totally dead and Mircera is close to dead, if not already.

Miss you guys. RCI was a great place to work at it's prime.

All the jobs you see posted in quality are due to new projects. The entry level positions you mentioned are to support the extensive growth. We are doing just fine without the Roche products.

 

[anonymous]

Yes, titles such as Manufacturing Services Manager, Manufacturing Engineer, Manager Process Improvements, QA Manager, Sr. Automation Engineers, etc. sure all sound like "entry level" positions. Don't kid yourself. Good people have left and will continue leaving given the lack of leadership we have here.