Japanese drug maker Eisai plans to eliminate about 70 employees at its research and manufacturing campus in Research Triangle Park as part of a broader U.S. restructuring that will cost about 600 jobs.

As with other pharmaceutical companies, Eisai is streamlining operations as it faces increasing competition from generic medicines, lower reimbursement fees and slower sales of its own products, including the Alzheimer's treatment Aricept.

Eisai, which has its U.S. headquarters in New Jersey, expanded its RTP operations last May, opening a $100 million, 65,000 square-foot facility. The company employs about 325 people at its RTP campus, which includes another, 190,000 square-foot manufacturing and research facility.

Japanese drug maker Eisai won regulatory approval today for its new treatment for late-stage breast cancer.

The drug, known as Halaven, is a synthetic form of a compound found in sea sponges that works by inhibiting cancer cell growth, the Food and Drug Administration wrote in a prepared statement.

While the drug is made outside the U.S., Eisai will label and package it for the U.S. market at a $100 million, 65,000 square-foot facility that opened in May on its Research Triangle Park campus. The company has its U.S. headquarters in New Jersey, but employs about 325 people at its main manufacturing campus in RTP.

The injectable drug, also known as eribulin mesylate, will be the first oncology product packaged at the new facility. Eisai officials have said they may add more jobs in RTP as its cancer program expands.

The Food and Drug Administration has accepted for review an oral suspension seizure drug made by Eisai, a Japanese drugmaker with a presence in Research Triangle Park.

The FDA said it would review Banzel, a drug that is intended for children and adults who have trouble swallowing tablets.

The FDA's acceptance is the first step in the drug approval process. Eisai submitted Banzel for review in late April.

In May, Eisai opened its $100 million, 65,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Research Triangle Park.

Japanese drug maker Eisai today opened its $100 million, 65,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Research Triangle Park.

The Tokyo-based company announced the project in 2006, lured partly by the promise of more than $1 million in state and local incentives. The new facility will produce intravenous drugs to treat diseases such as breast cancer, lung cancer and melanoma.

"The opening of this new facility marks a major milestone in our history," said CEO Haruo Naito, in a prepared statement.

The new facility expands Eisai's operations in RTP, where it already had a 190,000 square-foot manufacturing and research facility. That factory makes various products, including Aricept, left, the world's best-selling treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

The company now employs 325 people in RTP and could add more as additional drugs win regulatory approval.

Eisai's U.S. subsidiary is headquartered in Woodcliff Lake, N.J., and recently reported annual sales of $3.9 billion.