Six months after it was bought out by a global pharmaceutical giant, Stiefel Laboratories is closing its headquarters in Coral Gables and laying off up to 40 people.

The Coral Gables office employed around 60 people, but some will be moving to the new headquarters in an existing Stiefel facility in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

The move is expected to be completed by June, said Erin Singer, a spokeswoman for the company. ``We have begun a phased head-count reduction of 40 people,'' she said. ``We are still in the process of determining how many will be transferring.''

Stiefel, which specializes in dermatology products, is the largest pharmaceutical firm based in South Florida.

The move is disappointing for local business boosters, who see the biotechnology industry as a possible source of high-paying jobs for Miami's future.

The Stiefel family sold the company, which has been in South Florida since 1977, to London-based GlaxoSmithKline for $3.6 billion in a deal announced in April. ``I am very distressed that we're losing a longtime family-owned business in the Gables, but there's nothing to do because they were bought by a large global corporation,'' said Gables Mayor Don Slesnick. ``They're not leaving because of Coral Gables.''

A spokeswoman for Miami-Dade's economic development agency, the Beacon Council, agreed, saying her agency contacted the company, but there was nothing that could be done.

Aurelia Vasquez, the spokeswoman, said the company also is closing a facility in Duluth, Ga., affecting about 200 workers.

``We knew the move was inevitable when they were bought by GSK,'' Vasquez said. ``It all the more underscores the need to get the UM Life Science Park up and running.''

The University of Miami is planning a 1.4-million-square-foot life science complex near the medical school campus that UM leaders hope will spark a new biotechnology industry in Miami-Dade County. The first phase was tentatively scheduled to break ground earlier this year, but has been delayed, a university spokeswoman said.

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