GSK to cut US jobs as it targets £1bn in savings

GlaxoSmithKline Plc will cut several hundred jobs from its US workforce as part of the drugmaker’s efforts to reduce costs by £1bn (€1.27bn).

The company will eliminate positions in commercial and research operations as part of a global restructuring, London-based Glaxo said yesterday in an emailed statement.

Glaxo, the UK’s biggest drugmaker, is under pressure to reduce costs as earnings have slumped. The company has about 99,000 employees worldwide, with 17,000 in the US, most at Research Triangle Park in North Carolina and in Philadelphia.

“The aim of the programme is to improve performance by taking unnecessary complexity out of our global operations and establish a smaller, more focused organisation operating at lower costs to support our future portfolio,” Glaxo said.

The drugmaker pledged in October to cut costs by £1bn over three years, with half the savings coming in 2016. US sales are flagging amid increased competition for the company’s best-selling Advair asthma medication. .

Glaxo is trying to establish new respiratory drugs in the US to help replace the lost sales of Advair.

“Retail sales teams focused on launching new medicines to the market will largely not be affected,” the company said.

* Bloomberg