Sanofi cuts 1,700 U.S. jobs

Sanofi-Aventis announced that it's restructuring its U.S. pharmaceutical operations. Of the French drugmaker's 13,000 U.S. employees, 6,900 work in the Pharmaceutical Operations division; Sanofi plans to cut 25 percent of the headcount there. The company will focus its work on diabetes, atrial fibrillation and oncology. The job cuts are part of a $2.8 billion cost-reduction plan announced last year, Sanofi spokesperson Jack Cox tells Bloomberg. Sales reps will be taking the brunt of the cuts, with 1,400 jobs being eliminated. A further 300 positions will be cut from the company's Bridgewater, New Jersey site.

"Given the serious challenges facing our organization and the healthcare industry, it is important to act decisively now so that our organization has greater stability moving forward and that our resources are allocated to our strategic growth priorities," said Gregory Irace, CEO of Sanofi-Aventis U.S./Canada Pharmaceutical Operations. "These changes will foster a renewed focus on the strong growth and pipeline opportunities that will drive our vision of being a diversified healthcare leader."

- check out the Sanofi release
- read the Bloomberg report