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az logo.bmpI think I’m beginning to get RSI from typing the phrase “more woe in the pharmaceutical industry”.

AstraZeneca has now announced it is cutting more jobs. Most reports put the number of job losses at 6,000. However AstraZeneca’s statement says that that “business reshaping activities” would deliver “a reduction of approximately 15,000 positions by 2013”, this includes 7,600 redundancies announced in 2007 meaning around 7,400 new cuts.


“AstraZeneca has delivered a robust performance in an increasingly challenging market environment,” says chief executive David Brennan (AFP). “We are also making good headway in further improving the efficiency of our organisation. The expansion in the scope of our restructuring efforts is another important step towards sustaining our long-term competitiveness.”

Brennan also says the job cuts are “not a reaction to the recession”.

The Daily Telegraph notes:

In a bearish note last week, analysts at ING gave warning that AstraZeneca faces an “intellectual property meltdown” and a 40pc decline in earnings to 2013 with patents ending on best-selling stomach acid drug Nexium and asthma treatment Symbicort.

However, Mr Brennan defended the company’s pipeline, pointing out that the 10 drugs in late stage development or waiting for regulatory approval was double the number of 2006. “There is no doubt our pipeline is better,” he said.

In other news, GlaxoSmithKline has warned it will record a $400 million charge linked to an investigation into drug marketing by the US Attorney’s Office in Colorado (Bloomberg).

From PharmaTimes:

GSK, which said that it is co-operating fully in the probe, noted that the decision “reflects the current status of the investigation”. However the company acknowledged that “the ultimate liability…may vary from the amount provided as it is dependent upon the outcome of the investigatory process and potential litigation”. In total, GSK now expects to incur fourth-quarter legal charges of £517 million.

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    Sergio Stagnaro said:

    AstraZeneca has now announced it is cutting more jobs. Well! Surely, what accounts for the reason a lot of individuals will lose work is ameliorating long-term competitiveness. I think, however,how was the Pharma commercial balance in the recent past.

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