(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor Plus) – New York, 07 Sep – Eli Lilly plans to cut 8% of its workforce globally and close some offices with the aim of cutting costs while increasing investments in new drugs. In fact, the group has to deal with the expiry of some patents, which will weigh on the sales of old products.
The company explained that it aims to eliminate about 3,500 employees, of which 2,000 in the USA. The redundancies will be spread across various areas including manufacturing and research. In the USA, Eli Lilly aims to achieve personnel cuts through early retirement. Eli Lilly – which has about 41,241 employees worldwide, over 18,500 in the US – counts on saving 500 million dollars a year.
The company expects to incur after-tax charges of $1.2 billion, a figure that will be included in the third and fourth quarter 2017 accounts. CEO David A. Ricks explained in a statement that “we have a 'abundance of opportunities', the launch of eight medicines in the past four years and the potential for two more launches by the end of next year.
To fully realize these opportunities and invest in the next generation of new medicines, we are taking steps to streamline our organization and reduce our overheads around the world." Eli Lilly stock is up 9.4% year-to-date and 2.55% over the past 12 months.
Borsa Italiana – 7 September 2017
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