Pfizer to retrench 8,000

22 January 2007

Maker of blockbusters like Viagra and Lipitor, US drugs giant Pfizer is expected to announce 8,000 job cuts when its new chairman Jeffrey Kindler, who had been its CEO since mid 2006, unveils the company's survival plan today.

Earlier, in November 2006, Pfizer had announced an initial round of 2,200 job cuts.

According to analysts, one in three of Pfizer's 24,000 sales positions is expected to be cut along with plant closures in a major restructuring drive to be unveiled by Kindler. as Pfizer braces for life after the expiry of patents on some its most profitable drugs.

Kindler expects to trim costs by around $2 billion.

The drastic cost cuts have become necessary as patents that had protected some of Pfizer's best-selling drugs have already expired or due to expire as in the case of its anti-cholesterol Lipitor tablets.

Last year Lipitor had generated sales of $12.5 billion, one-quarter of the company's $51 billion in annual revenue and nearly half of its net income. The Lipitor patent is expected to expire in 2010.