Pharmacia & Upjohn To Shift Headquarters

Pharmacia & Upjohn Co. today said it will shift its headquarters from London to the Mid-Atlantic United States, where most of its biggest competitors have their home offices.

The pharmaceutical giant, whose products include Rogaine hair restorer and Nicotrol nicotine patches, said the move was designed to stem lagging sales in its largest market, the United States.

Basing the company in or near the region’s drug corridor, centered in New Jersey, makes sense because the region marks “the global center of pharmaceutical industry,” company spokesman Rick Chambers said. He declined to say where the new offices would be located within the region.

The company’s Kalamazoo-based marketing team will move to the new headquarters, affecting 600 jobs, he said.

“I’m not saying layoff or transfer. It’s too soon for us to make any determination about that,” spokesman Rick Chambers said.