Novartis ($NVS) has brought its job-cutting sword to the U.K., with plans to shutter an R&D site in Horsham. Up to 371 jobs are expected to disappear there. But that's not all. The Swiss drugmaker also plans to shed as many as 72 marketing and sales jobs.
The layoffs on the commercial side will primarily affect field reps, the company said in a statement provided to FierceBiotech. It's part of a plan to pull marketing and sales support for its diabetes and COPD treatments in the U.K.
Novartis says the drugs will remain on the market. "All these products will still be available to customers and patients in the U.K. with no change in supply or accessibility at this time," the company said in its statement.
This new wave of job cuts follows plenty of layoffs at Novartis facilities around the world. Last year, the company announced it would shed 2,000 U.S. jobs, most of them in sales, as it prepared for generic competition for the blood pressure drug Diovan and for declining sales of Tekturna. And that was the company's third round of payroll cuts since 2010.
The U.K. restructuring comes as Novartis is considering a much larger revamp to its operations. With a new chairman on board, the company is weighing the sale or spinoff of several units, including animal health and vaccines. Last month, the company said it had cut about 48 workers from the latter group at a plant in Emeryville, CA.
- see the Novartis statement
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