Astrazeneca has carried out an adjustment in its sales force in the United States that results in the departure of around 600 employees, mainly linked to the respiratory diseases and immunology divisions. This move is framed as one of the first actions of its cost containment program, presented in October, with which the pharmaceutical company aims to achieve savings of up to 1.5 billion dollars (1.359 billion euros).
According to sources consulted by "Bloomberg", part of the layoffs affects staff dedicated to the commercial promotion of treatments for Breztri and Airsupra asthma, two of the company’s key drugs in this segment.
In the third-quarter results presentation, released last October 30, the group detailed its strategic plan "Reconfiguration for sustainable growth", designed to generate the capital necessary to finance its portfolio of future projects, which implies cuts and adjustments in different internal areas.
"Over the next three years, the program will make it possible to redistribute resources and strengthen capabilities across all existing business and therapeutic areas of Astrazeneca," the company explained when breaking down the objectives of this initiative.
The multinational has specified that the total cost associated with this savings plan will rise to up to 2.0 billion dollars (1.813 billion euros), although it expects these measures to translate into a recurring reduction in expenses of 1.5 billion dollars per year.
Regarding the personnel adjustment in the United States, the company believes it will be able to reassign some of the affected workers to other functions within the group. After these changes, the total workforce of Astrazeneca in the U.S. market remains at around 25,000 employees.