Bristol-Myers Squibb likely to cut 4,300 jobs

Mumbai: Pharma giant Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. is cutting at least 10 per cent of its workforce - about 4,300 employees - as part of its restructuring.

The New York-based drugmaker is expected to potentially close nearly half of its manufacturing plants as part of a long-awaited cost-saving programme to be announced next week, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The report quoting analysts said the company is likely to hive off some of its non-pharmaceutical assets, possibly the units that make baby formula and other products. These together are estimated to be worth around $10 billion.

While some employees have already received notices, company spokesman Jeff Macdonald said, "Over the next few weeks we are informing employees at some of our sites that their positions are being eliminated," another report said.

Bristol, which co-markets the popular anti-blood-clotting drug Plavix, also sells a bunch of low-cost drugs such as Erbitux for cancer, Sustiva for HIV and Abilify for psychiatric disorders.

The company has been facing generic competition to Plavix for the past four years. But Bristol-Myers'' workforce has remained almost unchanged at 43,000 since 2002.