Sanofi slashes US workforce
pharmafile | October 11, 2010 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Sanofi-Aventis, job cuts
Sanofi-Aventis is to cut a quarter of its workforce in the US – making 1,700 people redundant – as it seeks to concentrate on diabetes, atrial fibrillation and oncology.
The news comes as the French manufacturer is locked in an $18.5 billion hostile bid to take over US biotech company Genzyme.
Sanofi explicitly makes it clear that part of the reason for the cuts is “the impact of patent expiries”, saying it needs to “streamline” US pharma operations in order to push resources into the three therapy areas.
It is no secret that generic competition, along with European pricing pressure and the impact of the US health reforms have dented Sanofi’s growth.
Chief executive Christopher Viehbacher has already talked of improving matters via “internal transformations and numerous partnerships and acquisitions”.
Speaking to Bloomberg, a company spokesman said the US job cuts are part of a 2 billion euro cost-reduction plan announced last July.
Around 1,400 sales people will go along with 300 jobs at Sanofi offices in Bridgewater, New Jersey.
The restructure is “part of the company’s ongoing transformation to better respond to patients and customers in a challenging healthcare marketplace”, Sanofi added in a statement.
“This step in our transformation strategy will expedite decision-making, reduce business complexities and increase innovation,” said Gregory Irace, chief executive of Sanofi’s US/Canada pharma operations.
“Given the serious challenges facing our organisation and the healthcare industry, it is important to act decisively now,” he added.
Sanofi employs 13,000 people in the US, 6,900 of whom are currently employed in pharma operations. The company says final decisions about costs will be announced in December.
Irace concluded: “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.”
Last year Sanofi suspended development of four late-stage drugs and ten other projects following an R&D review.
Genzyme itself said last month it intends to cut its workforce by around 1,000 over the next 15 months in order to achieve cost savings.
Adam Hill
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