Word came out just before the weekend (first at Endpoints) that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is laying off R&D employees at both Stevenage ((UK)) and Upper Providence ((US)). Current leadership is reorganizing drug discovery efforts to put more emphasis on oncology, immunology and genetic-linked disease, and this move seems linked to that. Reports are that overall R&D headcount is supposed to increase as the strategy takes effect, but (as usual) it's a lot easier to identify people and positions that don't fit than it is to hire in people that you think do. John Carroll's