Bayer takes yet more cost-cutting measures
Bayer is to trim operating costs in its pharmaceutical operations by a further €400m (US$379m) over the next 18 months by means of staff reductions and rationalising its global manufacturing site strategy. Some 1,300 employees in the worldwide pharmaceutical business will be affected, in addition to the 1,300 job losses announced last October following the withdrawal of Lipobay/Baycol.
'The steps we are taking today are consistent with our desire to put the pharmaceutical business back on a solid footing,' said Werner Wenning, chairman of the board of management of Bayer. 'Clearly there is much work yet to be done and we continue to look for partnerships.'
These initiatives are the latest in a series of restructuring measures taken by the pharmaceuticals business. Other measures have included the divestment of its generics businesses in France and Spain and the reorganisation of the pharmaceutical sales and marketing force in the US.