Drug maker Wyeth to cut 5,000 jobs

Drug makers are struggling with a shrinking pipeline of new drugs.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Wyeth is telling managers that about 10 percent of its 50,000 employees worldwide may lose their jobs by 2011 under a planned restructuring, three years after the drug maker scaled back its sales force.

Wyeth spokesman Doug Petkus said Friday that discussions with managers began Thursday and are continuing as the company looks for ways to transform its business, lower costs and boost growth. He said one option being evaluated is job cuts; the company has not identified other possibilities.

“We need to become more efficient, we need to invest in our business and we need to facilitate growth,” Petkus said in an interview.

“Nothing is etched in stone and it is premature to discuss how many or which positions may be affected, or how the reductions will be achieved,” he added.

Petkus said Wyeth officials plan to share details of the initiative with workers near the end of March.

Wyeth, based in Madison, N.J., has been struggling with increased competition and a shrinking pipeline of new drugs, like most of its competitors. Industry heavyweights including Pfizer Inc., GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Johnson & Johnson all have announced significant layoffs and other cost-cutting moves in the last year or two.

Wyeth has had the additional problem of repeated setbacks with U.S. regulators. Since last April, the Food and Drug Administration on four occasions has rejected approval of a Wyeth drug, demanded additional information or required an entire new study, significantly delaying expected launches of heavily touted new products.