AstraZeneca to cut another 7,350 jobs as patents expire
Friday 03 February 2012
Related articles
AstraZeneca has set out plans to fire another 7,350 staff, after admitting that revenues would fall this year as blockbuster drugs fall out of patent and governments demand discounted deals.
Britain's second-biggest drug maker employs 8,000 in the UK, mainly at its R&D site in Cheshire. About 300 jobs are likely to go there.
The pharma giant has culled 21,600 jobs in the last four years, but the failure of new drugs is seeing it pare back costs further, with it hoping to save just over £1bn a year by 2014 with the latest job cuts.
"This is a blow to Britain's research and development base," said Linda McCulloch of the Unite union. "If the company can afford a 10 per cent hike in its dividends, then it can afford to retain these roles."
Astra said that during 2011 it lost almost $2bn (£1.3bn) in revenues after blockbuster drugs faced generic competition. Its heartburn drug Nexium fell out of patent in Europe, and the $1.5bn-a-year cancer drug Arimidex also saw cheaper rivals enter the market. But the full impact of Astra's "patent cliff" is yet to be seen. Nexium and Seroquel, the pharma giant's best-selling bipolar drug, brought in combined revenues of $10.2bn last year, and both will have generic competitors in the massive US market from 2014.
The drugmaker said it was also suffering from governments in Europe and the US cutting their drugs bill. Astra said it lost $1bn last year because of "the impact of government price interventions".
However, Astra still managed to increase revenues by 1 per cent to $33.6bn in 2011. Pre-tax profit grew 13 per cent at $12.3bn.
It admitted it expects 2012 revenues to fall in the "low double-digit range". David Brennan, chief executive, said: "The further expected losses of market exclusivity make for a challenging 2012 outlook."
AstraZeneca is begin a $4.5bn share buyback scheme and raise its dividend by 10 per cent.
The shares fell more than 3 per cent, by 105.5p, to 2984p.
- 1 Massive stage collapse before Radiohead concert kills one
- 2 News in pictures
- 3 Leveson threatened to quit after public attack by Gove
- 4 In pictures: The bewildering face of China
- 5 Osborne: The people’s damning verdict
- 6 Ed Miliband: 'Cameron is the last gasp of the old guard'
- 7 Savers start a 'jog' on Europe's banks as Greece votes
- 8 For whom the bell tolls: £20m 'Memo' project takes shape on Dorset's Jurassic coast
- 9 Still standing: George Galloway reveals why his staunchly Leftist outlook is still invariably right
- 10 Aung San Suu Kyi: A lesson in the value of kindness
- 1 Massive stage collapse before Radiohead concert kills one
- 2 Patrick Cockburn: Greece's day of reckoning dawns in a climate of anger and uncertainty
- 3 The Blagger's Guide To: The best (and worst) fathers
- 4 We just click: How Lego keeps building on its success
- 5 Revealed: Harry Potter is the Antichrist!
- 6 The Leveson Inquiry: We're in this together!
- 7 Osborne: The people’s damning verdict
- 8 David Flatman: Over and out
- 9 Frank Zimmerman and me: The truth about the troll who tormented Louise Mensch
- 10 Aung San Suu Kyi: A lesson in the value of kindness

Experience the Heineken Hub
Get free wi-fi and exclusive i content while you enjoy a tasty pint of Heineken at participating pubs.

Win a sumptuous three-night stay in Austria
Get away from it all in the fresh mountain air at the four-star Hotel Edelweiss & Gurgl.

Win a five-star foodie weekend to Liège
Spend two nights in gourmet heaven at a top hotel in the capital of French-speaking Belgium.

A home to be proud of with Halifax
Download the Halifax's brilliant, free new Home Finder app, and take all the pain out of finding your dream home

Playing a game-changing role during the Games
Cisco is providing the solutions for London 2012's complex IT needs.

Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.

Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Career Services
Day In a Page

Still standing: George Galloway

Daniel Radcliffe as drug-taking Beatnik poet

Objets czar: David Usborne’s collection of myriad objects

World's richest woman: Gina Rinehart

Comments