The planned cut-back will see 2,200 employees in Pfizer’s sales organization lose their jobs in an effort to compensate for market changes and sales losses due to expiration of patents on a number of key Pfizer branded drugs.
The patent on its best selling drug Zoloft has already expired and its cholesterol lowering medication Lipitor will expire by 2011. This has lead to decreased sales as competition in the market increases.
Pfizer commented it would still maintain strong support for all of its in-line products, including Lipitor, Celebrex and Geodon, as well as upcoming products such as Lyrica, Exubera, Chantix and Sutent.
Pfizer announced in mid-October that it would undertake a review of every aspect of its company-wide operations. In January, Pfizer will present its long-term outlook and its additional actions for transforming the company.
“The changes we are making today will better align our sales organization to our overall customer and business needs. This is an important step toward making Pfizer a more agile and effective company,” said Jeffrey Kindler, Pfizer’s CEO.
The move comes as pharmaceuticals are incrasinlgy facing a changing industry as generic drugs become more popular. Eli Lilly and Merck have also announced plans to adjust their workforces in the future.
“While we pursue these opportunities and respond to the accelerating changes in our marketplace, our field force will continue to be a critical competitive advantage in ensuring the success of both our products and our company as a whole,” added Jeffrey Kindler.