Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy Synthes medical device business is restructuring, eliminating as many as 460 positions, the company confirmed to Qmed/MPMN on Thursday. The Wall Street Journal reports that a video message to employees earlier this week blamed the move on “seismic shifts” in healthcare.The positions reduction accounts for less than 2 percent of 23,000-strong global workforce, said spokeswoman Lorie Gawreluk, who described the layoffs as global and affecting many sites and areas of the company’s business.“At the same time, we have created approximately 80 new positions to build capabilities to execute our strategy. We hope impacted employees will strongly consider these positions as well as career opportunities across Johnson & Johnson. For employees who are ultimately impacted, we will offer severance benefits and career counseling support,” Gawreluk said in an emailed statement.Johnson & Johnson acquired Synthes in 2012 for $19.7 billion in cash and stock. The New Brunswick, NJ-based giant has its medical devices business transitioning from multiple, distinct operating companies to one global orthopaedics franchise, one neuro business unit, one global research and development organization, and one North America region, in addition to the other regions outside the U.S., according to Gawreluk."This new approach will enable us to fully leverage the breadth and depth of our product portfolio, accelerate more meaningful R&D innovation, and intensify collaboration to drive total solutions," Gawreluk said.The medical device industry has been plagued by several significant layoffs in recent years affecting big players such as Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Abbott Laboratories, and Smith & Nephew.The layoffs have been attributed to everything from cost pressure and the demands of globalization to increased barriers and costs associated with marketing medical devices such as the medical device tax.“With global economies and healthcare markets fundamentally changing, DePuy Synthes Cos. is transforming our operating model to enhance our ability to offer broader portfolio solutions to hospitals, provide superior product innovation and expert service to surgeons, reinforce our organizational capabilities and align our cost structure to our evolving environment,” Gawreluk said.In addition, there has been a considerable uptick in mergers and acquisitions in the medical device industry in the past couple of years. A report titled “Strong Momentum in Healthcare” released in 2013 from Silicon Valley Bank noted that big-exit M&A activity had reached an eight-year high last year.More recent evidence of this can be seen in the form of Medtronics recent acquisition of Covidien for $42.9 billion in cash and stock.Source: Qmed