GlaxoSmithKline, today, announced that it is restructuring its US pharmaceutical sales organization. The plan will include elimination of 1,800 sales rep positions by year end. The cuts will affect approximately 1,000 employees and an undetermined number of support staff.

A spokesperson told Pharm Exec that some reps will be moved to the company’s expanding vaccine sales group. Additionally, GSK will be designating its North Carolina location as its sole headquarters.

While some pharma companies are moving to a geographic sales structure, GSK chose to reorganize reps by therapeutic areas. “In the past, some of our teams were organized by where they reported to, whether it be Philadelphia or Research Triangle Park,” GSK spokesperson Mary Anne Rhyne told Pharm Exec. “Geography is still a concern in terms of making sure that reps are in the right places in the country, but we think this plan will allow us to provide healthcare professionals with more of the specialized information that they are looking for.” (more…)

Not much in the way of good news at Merck this morning. The pharma giant announced that it is revising its financial guidelines through 2010, and eliminating 7,200 positions by 2011. The move is expected to save the company $3.8 billion to $4.2 billion through 2013.

The layoffs will be staggered throughout different parts of the company, with 40 percent of the reductions being US employees. About 25 percent of the cuts will be senior and middle management

Merck President and CEO Richard T. Clark (pictured above in happier times) cited manufacturing challenges of some vaccines as a key problem area, along with a 15 percent drop in sales of the cholesterol drugs Zetia and Vytorin, which have been plagued with troubles in the past year. The loss of patent exclusivity of Fosamax also set the company back more than $127 million over last year. Even Merck’s HPV blockbuster Gardasil saw a decrease in sales of 4 percent, with earnings of $401 million in Q3 2008. (more…)