Merck to cut costs by $2.5 billion, eliminate 8,500 jobs

Merck & Co, taking a cue from rival drug makers that have slashed research spending to bolster earnings, on Tuesday said it plans to cut its annual operating costs by $2.5 billion by the end of 2015 and eliminate 8,500 jobs.. Merck, whose shares jumped almost 3 per cent in premarket trading following the news, said it aims to narrow its focus to products with the best chance of winning regulatory approval and achieving substantial sales.. To slim down, it said it would jettison research products with less likelihood of success. It plans to pull the plug on some products already in late-stage trials and to license other products to other companies.. The job cuts, representing more than 10 per cent of the company's global workforce of 81,000 employees, would be in addition to previously announced cuts of 7,500 positions.. About 40 per cent of the savings from the new initiative, or $1 billion, will be realized by the end of 2014 and will come from slicing marketing and administrative and research and development operations, Merck said.. The company said it would take restructuring charges of $900 million to $1 billion this year, mostly in the third quarter.. Many Merck products have failed to win regulatory approval in recent years, and the company has suffered delays in getting products to market.. Moreover, Wall Street is concerned about sharply slowing sales growth for the diabetes drug Januvia, Merck's biggest growth engine over the past three years. Rival drugs and newer classes of diabetes treatments have hurt Januvia sales.. "Today's announcement further underscores that we are committed to improving our performance in the short term while also investing for the long term to create value for patients, customers and stockholders," Merck chief executive Kenneth Frazier said in a press release.. Merck in April replaced its long-time research chief, Peter Kim, with Roger Perlmutter, a former Amgen Inc research head who is expected to better acquaint Merck with biotech drugs - injectable drugs made in living cells that have become standard treatments for a wide array of diseases, including cancer and rheumatoid arthritis.. Merck has focused mainly on development of conventional drugs, or pills, although it is also a leader in vaccines.. The company had several triumphs under Kim, including development of Januvia, its Gardasil vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, its Zostavax shingles vaccine, and its Isentress treatment for HIV.. But more recently, it has been hurt by failed trials of cholesterol treatment Tredaptive and migraine drug telcagepant, and a regulatory delay for a new type of osteoporosis medicine called odanacatib.. Perlmutter's work is cut out for him because new medicines are badly needed at Merck. Sales of the asthma drug Singulair - which reached $6 billion a year at one point - are plunging due to generic competition, and other Merck medicines will also face cheaper generics soon.. Moreover, cost savings from Merck's 2009 purchase of rival Schering Plough have mostly dried up and are no longer able to boost company earnings.. Merck said it still expects full-year 2013 earnings of $3.45 to $3.55 per share, excluding special items. It earned $3.82 per share last year.. Merck shares were at $48.99 in premarket trading, up from a close on Monday at $47.61 on the New York Stock Exchange.. Pfizer Inc became an industry trendsetter in aggressive cost-cutting in early 2011 when it announced plans to chop annual research spending by as much as $3 billion. It went on to close numerous research sites and has halted or curtailed spending for research on drugs for allergy, urology, internal medicine and other therapeutic areas requiring large sales forces.. Wall Street has cheered Pfizer's moves, especially since the company has launched many new medicines since the changes, including cancer drugs. Moreover, it has divested its animal health and infant formula businesses, and plans to return much of the proceeds to investors through share buybacks.. Merck dug in its heels after Pfizer's dramatic streamlining, saying it planned to hold steady with its research spending in order to advance its promising medicines through clinical trials.. Copyright @ Thomson Reuters 2013

Merck to cut costs by $2.5 billion, eliminate 8,500 jobs

NDTV Profit

NDTV Profit

Follow Us

DOWNLOAD THE APP