Orion to renew operational model of pharmaceutical R&D. Negotiation proposal on reduction of up to 300 employees in Finland

Orion Corporation will develop a more flexible and lighter
operational model for the pharmaceutical research and development of
the company. The statutory negotiations with the personnel
representatives are therefore introduced in Finland. The purpose of
the negotiations is to achieve a more flexible cost structure and
operational model as well as to reduce costs. The rearrangements
dealt with in the negotiations are concerning primarily the
pharmaceutical R&D, and they may lead to a reduction of the personnel
by up to 300 employees. The changes are planned to be implemented in
the course of 2009. By reshaping the current operational model and
cost structure of the R&D into a more flexible one, Orion prepares
for ensuring its prerequisites of doing business as well as its
competitiveness even after the expiry of the basic patents protecting
its most important products, in the early part of the next decade.

President and CEO Timo Lappalainen says: "The changes taking place in
our business environment require us to adopt ways which will enable
us to allocate the use of our resources more flexibly than today and
to secure the profitability and the growth opportunities of the
company also in the long term. When implementing the necessary
changes we cannot, unfortunately, avoid personnel reductions. With
the changes now being prepared we will strengthen Orion's strategic
capability to be a company offering new medicinal treatments even in
the future, with engagement in pharmaceutical research anddevelopment.  I regard it an important objective for Orion, the most
important pharmaceutical enterprise in Finland, to ensure that it can
invest in its core operations and continue offering the specialists
of this industry a wide-angle view into the broad spectrum of job
opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry and research."

The personnel negotiations and the related grounds do not give reason
for revisiting the financial full-year outlook for 2008 provided in
the Interim Report 1-9/2008 on 28 October 2008.


Orion Corporation


Timo Lappalainen                Olli Huotari
President and CEO              Senior VP, Corporate Functions



Contact person:
Timo Lappalainen, President and CEO, phone +358 10 426 3692






ABOUT ORION
Orion is dedicated to treating and preventing disease by discovery
and developing innovative medicinal treatments. In 2007, Orion
generated net sales of EUR 683.6 million and invested EUR 98.5
million in research and development. The number of employees in the
Orion Group is approximately 3,300, of which 2,700 persons are
working in Finland. Orion corporate headquarters are in Espoo,
Finland.  For more information, please visit:
http://www.orion.fi/english/.




Publisher:
Orion Corporation
Communications
Orionintie 1A, FI-02200 Espoo
Homepage: www.orion.fi