AstraZeneca, UK based pharmaceutical plan to cut 3,000 jobs, or 4.6 percent of its global work force, after battling competition from generic manufacturers for its key heart drug Toprol XL.
AstraZeneca said the job cuts over three years would focus on its factories, helping it maintain financial performance in an increasingly competitive environment.
Pharmaceutical didn’t disclose where the jobs would be cut geographically. They account for around 5 per cent of the group’s global workforce of 65,000 and will result in charges of $500m to the company accounts.
In the first of year, the US giant and world largest drug company Pfizer announced to reduce its workforce 10 percent by cutting 10,000 jobs.
The big pharmaceutical firms are facing problem of cheaper sales of their best-selling drugs. AstraZeneca has also been hit by a series of late-stage pipeline failures which has led investors to question its long-term future.
However, the short to medium-term story remains positive. As AstraZeneca reported a profit jumped 28 per cent to $8.54bn on sales up 11 per cent to $26.5bn driven by blockbusters like the heartburn drug Nexium, the cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor and Seroquel for schizophrenia.
AstraZeneca’s shares rose 2 per cent, up 63p to 2,903p, hope the City welcomed the news of the job cuts.
Via: Independent
