Following the loss of patent exclusivity of its best-selling osteoporosis drug Actonel, the company’s President of European and Global Marketing, Hans van Zoonen, announced last week that a strategic review of European operations has resulted in a “restructuring initiative” that will allow Warner-Chilcott to pursue growth opportunities that align with its “key competitive strengths”.

The blunt reality of this in Europe is the axing of 500 jobs — a fifth of the company’s workforce — in Belgium the Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. The only Western European areas to be spared are its facilities in Ireland and Weiterstadt, Germany, and its commercial operations in the UK.

But these European cutbacks signify part of a plan to shift the company’s focus further towards the US market. Already, of Warner-Chilcott’s current 2700 employees, the majority (1700) are the US. This balance will shift even more, of course, when the layoffs take effect, and the company is also placing more eggs in its US basket with the launch, later this year, of its new osteoporosis treatment, Atelvia, and its contraceptive, Loestrin.

As one industry blogger has noted, with the expected dash of cynicism, where else can the company focus on for new revenue but the US, “where we pay far more than the rest of the world for our drugs”? Whether or not this gamble pays off, Warner-Chilcott’s cuts in Europe should keep its US ambitions afloat for a while longer.

This isn’t shock news exactly — the company’s announcement of an imminent cost-cutting initiative was widely reported in September and the mooted cost-savings and number of job losses has been much speculated on. But the final announcement of the figure — which swells to 5,500 when the jobs to be transferred to third-party outsources are factored in — makes for depressing reading when added to the roll call of announced and planned Big Pharma layoffs of the last two years. Since 2008 this has stood at — Pfizer: 16000; Schering-Plough: 6000; Merck: 7000; J&J: 7800; AstraZeneca: 7600. (A fuller list is available this month in Pharm Exec’s ‘Inside Outsourcing’ supplement.)

Still, analysts are pointing to a sliver lining for Roches. John Bird of Datamonitor maintains that the restructuring will help in the long run. Despite the slow down in performance over last year — mainly due to a decline in demand for Roche’s influenza drug Tamiflu — Bird says “the company’s operating profit in 2009 was above average and the cost savings announced will help cement Roche’s strong fiscal position over the next six years.

You have to abate to accumulate, it seems.

According to the newly released Job-Cut Announcement Report from outplacement consultancy firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, pharma has cut more than 6,000 jobs in September alone, and more than 43,000 so far this year.

Which companies have contributed to this staggering number, and what are the underlying causes of job losses in the industry?

Most recently, Sanofi-Aventis announced its plans to eliminate 1,700 jobs in its US pharma business—about 25 percent of the company’s US pharma workers. The majority of jobs lost will be sales positions, and a small number of administrative jobs will disappear as well.

Before that, in September, Roche announced its “Operational Excellence Initiative,” which—while partly intended to analyze and restructure different segments of the company to maximize productivity and ROI—ultimately amounted to job cuts in an effort to “set the right priorities to ensure a successful future,” according to a statement released by Roche.

In May, Pfizer announced 6,000 layoffs that it said was part of “manufacturing reorganization” following its 2009 Wyeth acquisition. Possibly part of its plan to remain on track for its targeted cost reduction of $4 to $5 billion by the end of 2012, Pfizer has gone from nearly 114,000 employees internationally in Q 1 2010 to around 33,000 as of May of this year, according to a story on DailyFinance.com.

Following its 2009 acquisition of Schering-Plough, Merck began making cuts in February. The post-merger cuts would be a way to “eliminate some of the duplication,” according to a statement made in January by Merck CEO Dick Clark. “We have taken the best from both companies, from a process standpoint and a people standpoint,” he said.

And at the start of the year, way back in January, AstraZeneca announced its plan to cut around 8,000 jobs—four percent of its total workforce—over the next four years. As it does for so many Big Pharma players, the patent cliff lies at the heart of the issue. AstraZeneca products scheduled to lose patent protection this year are Armidex, a breast cancer therapy; and Pulmicort Respules, an asthma treatment.

Part of the trouble for drug manufacturers is the looming patent expiration dates and impending generics competition. Three of Sanofi’s top products—anticlotting medicines Lovenox and Plavix and cancer drug Taxotere—have or will soon have new generic competition, jeopardizing nearly $10 billion of the company’s $40 billion in annual sales, according to a story on Yahoo! Finance.

There are several other factors that are contributing to the layoffs trend:

• Structural transformations in the marketplace, focused on the declining relevance of a large sales force in an era of managed care as well as more targeted high-yield approaches to drug development that require less dedicated staff for R&D operations.

• Redeployment of assets in line with globalization and the ability to dig deep in untapped growth markets. Job losses in the US and Europe mean that more workers can be hired in countries like China—where, for example, turnover among sales forces is quite high and needs frequent replenishment.

• Advances in information technology that improve productivity for a smaller workforce. Information is not only a strategic asset; it is a labor-saving instrument to replace back-office functions and support more automation in manufacturing.

• The high cost of producing biologicals drugs are forcing companies to be more selective in where they manufacture, with fewer plants staffed by fewer people with more skills.

While such redistribution of assets and focus on greater ROI can be positive for a company as a whole, it can have negative effects on individual workers. In an industry that was once thought to be immune to layoffs, the dynamic can change if workers become wary of job loss, shifting toward a culture of bureaucratic self-preservation that may not always be in line with the importance of fostering entrepreurialism and prudent risk taking.

“This is something we’d be doing regardless,” said spokesman Bo Piela, adding that the layoffs were reported to stockholders back in May as part of a five-point cost-cutting plan. The company’s public announcement at that time confirmed there would be cost reductions — in light of its reduced 2010 forecast — but did not specifically mention job cuts.

Genzyme rejected Sanofi’s $18.5 billion takeover bid last month, saying the offer of $69 a share undervalued the company. Genzyme CEO Henri Termeer later wrote in a staff memo that the takeover proposal “reinforces how important it is to take control and maximize the value we bring to patients and shareholders.” But he also wrote that, for the first time in the company’s history, Genzyme is faced with the need to make “painful decisions.”

The company is set to face a further 1,900 job losses when it sells its genetic testing business to Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (LabCorp) for $925m later this year It has said however that these employees will be offered new contracts when the sale is completed. Nonetheless, the The five-point plan will also the divestment of two other, ‘non core’ units, diagnostic products and pharmaceutical intermediates — proceeds from which may be used to finance the second half of the company’s $2 billion stock buyback in a move to reduce share price volatility.

The company will begin to implement the job cuts before the end of this year.

Pfizer’s New York tower is on the market, but the pharma giant is not planning on leaving Manhattan.

The New York Times, on Tuesday, reported that the company is willing to put millions of dollars in tax breaks on the line to consolidate its New York offices.

“We are looking [at selling] the 685 building, frankly, we are looking at our whole New York City footprint,” Kerins told Pharm Exec. According to Kerins, the company’s headquarters will remain in Manhattan at 235 E. 42^nd Street.

The building in question is at 685 3^rd Avenue, which encompasses nearly a city block. The headquarter houses the oncology, established products, and emerging markets divisions.

According to an unnamed government official cited in The Times story, the company is also planning on shifting or cutting up to 1,400 jobs.

Pfizer said that it is transferring some jobs to other facilities, such as Pearl River, Madison, and Collegeville, to compensate with the restructuring and creation of new divisions. But Kerins said that the figure cited by The New York Times is false.

“We have no idea where [The Times] got those numbers,” Kerins said. “I seriously do not know. We made it public during the Wyeth acquisition that 15 percent of the positions in the company would be eliminated, which is about 19,000 total jobs globally. We have been very transparent with how we’ve communicated with employees and appropriate stakeholders,” Kerins said. “This type of article is unhelpful.”

According to reports, if Pfizer cuts more than 450 jobs in New York, it will have to repay about $24 million—double the amount it received in tax breaks. The company currently has approximately 4,400 employees in New York.

“Make sure this is perfectly clear,” Kerins said. “We were born in New York City. We have been here for 150 years. We are committed to New York City, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, but we have to have the ability to move.”

Much of the drive for this addition labor sculpting stems from AZ’s desire to streamline its R&D; the company will focus on fewer disease targets and expects to cut up to 3,500 jobs in that sector, which currently employs about 12,000.

But it’s not all bad news. Some jobs might survive via relocation, and because the company wants to expand its work in biologics, the net loss could end up in the 1,800 range. This should save AZ at least $1 billion a year, money they need for pipeline projects close to launch, such as the highly anticipated motavisumab, which aims to prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. AstraZeneca’s pipeline contains over 100 projects, about 30 percent of which were acquired by licensing, according to CEO David Brennan.

The company has not disclosed which disease areas it will leave behind during this streamlining process, but it’s unlikely they’ll drop ones diabetes (with seven compounds in the works and a rapidly growing patient population) or cancer.

According to the Times of London, GlaxoSmithKline is also expected to have unpleasant news for employees during Thursday’s release of its 4Q figures: They’ll be cutting 4,000 jobs, mostly in Europe and America. A similar bloodletting took place last February, when an estimated 6,000 got the axe. This is all part of Glaxo’s plan to save $2.7 billion by 2011.

It is not just cold outside these days, as Merck & Co. makes some cold hard decisions. Following on the heels of its now closed acquisition of Schering-Plough, Merck is making significant job cuts across its operations. Some 16,000 jobs are expected to be eliminated in total as a result of the merger.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Merck CEO Dick Clark wants to “eliminate some of the duplication,” especially with respect to the sales force. Many of those cuts were made today, according to various reports. The size and scale of those cuts, however, remain unclear, with no official word from the company.

Yesterday at a Goldman Sachs investor meeting, Clark gave some indication of how the company sees the merger. “We have taken the best from both companies, from a process standpoint and a people standpoint.” Clark stated. “Well over 30 percent of the Schering-Plough executive team has been retained at Merck.”

Still, cuts will remain the main focus as the company completes its integration. Clark pointed out that the company expected to reduce the number of its manufacturing facilities, which ballooned to 96 plants following the merger and research is also expected to see cuts. Those cuts will take longer to implement however.

Merck did announce its intention to pare down some of its staff at the former Schering-Plough headquarters in Kenniworth, NJ. In a filing with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development Merck stated it planned to cut 500 positions. No similar announcement was made for the Merck headquarters in Whitehouse Station, NJ. On the same website, Pfizer announced its plan to cut 400 positions at its Wyeth-based Monmouth facility.

“AstraZeneca is making changes to our sales force, which will be managed first by looking at vacancies and offering field sales employees the opportunity to self-identify whether they are interested in leaving the company,” a company spokesperson stated in an email. “We will know the full scope of the changes in the coming weeks.”

The strategy is similar to the move made earlier this year by US automakers to reduce their work force. However, it seems that AZ is looking to thin its ranks to compensate for loss of patent exclusivity rather than find more affordable help. The question is: What happens if the buyout quota isn’t met? Currently, only AZ executives know—and they aren’t talking. 

Meanwhile, local press in Indiana is reporting that Bristol-Myers Squibb filed paperwork stating it will close its Evansville, IL, plant and lay off 113 employees at that location and one other facility. The Courier Press of Evansville wrote that job losses would include 57 production operators in Evansville and 14 team leaders in both Evansville and Mount Vernon.

Pfizer is also being tight lipped about pending layoffs, but did reveal changes it’s making to existing facilities. According to a letter sent to employees, the company intends to keep its New York headquarters intact, while its Madison location will become the leadership center for the diversified businesses, animal health, consumer healthcare, and a few other units. Pfizer plans to close its Bridgewater, NJ, facility and Wyeth’s Great Valley, PA, campus by mid-2010. The Morris Plains, NJ, facility is still under review, and Wyeth’s Collegeville, PA, location will serve as the leadership center for the new specialty care business unit.

“It’s important for all colleagues to note that the location of a leadership center for a particular business unit does not require all colleagues working in that business to be located at the same facility,” Pfizer CFO Frank D’Amelio stated in the letter. “Rather, over the course of the next several weeks, each business will be determining the best location for each colleague, and managers will soon begin having individual conversations with colleagues impacted by these decisions.”

Elan cut 14 percent of its global work force last Wednesday as a part of an ongoing strategic review process. The company announced that it would postpone biologics manufacturing, redesign R&D in its biopharmaceutical business, and reduce related G&A and support activities. As a result, 230 positions were hacked. Elan said half the positions cut would be in Ireland, while the other half would be in the United States. They expect the changes to reduce 2009 operating costs by $30 million to $35 million.

Seattle-based Trubion Pharmaceuticals announced last Wednesday that it will reduce its workforce by 25 percent to 25 employees. Citing capital market and global economic uncertainty, Trubion says it is proactively cutting costs and investing in its strongest near-term opportunities to ensure long term success. Trubion develops protein therapeutic products for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases and cancer.

Watertown, MA-based Panacos Pharmaceuticals announced last Monday that it will reduce its work force from 11 to just four employees, close its Gaithersburg, MD, facility, and consider selling the company or its HIV development programs in an attempt to preserve financial resources. The company also announced it will de-list its common stock from trading on NASDAQ. According to a press release, if Panacos is unable to enter into a transaction or agreement, the company may be forced to shut down come second quarter. Panacos specializes in developing small molecule oral drugs for HIV and other viruses.

Thus far in 2009, Merck has handed out 750 pink slips to US sales reps as a part of a global restructuring plan announced last October. The plan was designed to reduce Merck’s work force by 12 percent—about 7,200 positions worldwide—by 2011, and save $3.8 billion to $4.2 billion by 2013. Although many US sales reps were notified of their dismissal earlier this year, some got word last Monday. When all is said and done, Merck expects its US sales force to be slimmed by 12 percent to 5,600.

In its fourth quarter report released today, AstraZeneca stated that it will continue its “new business reshaping activities” by laying off 7,400 employees. Add that to the 7,600 job cuts from 2007, and AZ is looking at a total workforce drop of 15,000 employees by 2013. The plan is expected to net the company $2.5 billion a year

Meanwhile, Sepracor unveiled plans to slash 940 positions – representing about 20 percent of the company’s staff. This move comes in reaction to pending generic competition for its sleep aid Lunesta. More than 500 internal employees will be effected while the rest of the savings will come from contract sales rep cuts.

Finally, according to Bloomberg, Abbott laid off 200 sales reps in reaction to FDA’s non-approval for an extended-release version of Vicodin.