Merck said it will slash 7,000 jobs over the next three years as it moves to close five plants, a research facility and two pre-clinical drug development operations. CEO Richard T. Clark said the company will streamline its process for making and distributing pharmaceuticals. More changes are anticipated for the company's R&D and sales and marketing operations, though the company said further details on that part of the restructuring won't be available until the company meets with analysts on December 15. Merck, which has been losing market share to generics and huge amounts of money from the loss of Vioxx, said the restructuring would save $3.5 billion to $4 billion in pre-tax funds over the coming five years.
- read this article in The New York Times for more