Pharma jobs shed over patent cliff

The pharmaceutical sector has shed up to one fifth of its staff as the effect of the patent cliff hits the viability of large sales teams.

An estimate from the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association put the level of job losses as high as 20% of the total workforce employed in the pharma sector with sales staff bearing the brunt of the cuts.

Director of commercial Affairs with the IPHC Orlaith Brennan pointed to the massive fall in the price of Lipitor when it came off patent, resulting in an 85% fall in price.