LAKE FOREST, Ill. (Feb. 2) — Hospira Inc., a pharmaceutical and drug-delivery systems specialist, is planning to close its rubber and latex facility in Ashland, Ohio, within 18 months.
The Ashland plant makes pharmaceutical-grade rubber and plastic and latex components.
The company also is intending to close two other plants making products for intravenous systems. The closings will affect 1,100 jobs, or 8.5 percent of its work force.
"To ensure long-term success, Hospira must take every step necessary to keep costs down while maintaining our high standards of quality and performance," CEO Christopher Begley said in a statement.
Hospira was spun off in 2004 from Abbott Laboratories Inc., which had owned the Ashland plant since 1966 when it acquired Faultless Rubber Co.
Hospira said it will transition products from the Ashland facility by fall 2007 to other Hospira Inc. plants, sell the product lines to outside vendors or discontinue the products.