After beefing up the target of its global cost-savings drive once again, Pfizer is continuing to see its plan through with cuts in numerous countries. Now, hundreds of employees in Switzerland are due to be dismissed in the coming weeks, according to Bloomberg.
As part of its multiyear cost-cutting initiative, Pfizer is “making changes in Switzerland to ensure we have the best strategies and models in place to deliver our medicines and vaccines to patients,” a company spokesperson told Fierce Pharma over email Thursday.
“This involves streamlining and realigning our resources to reduce complexity and optimize our work in the areas where we can have the greatest impact,” the spokesperson continued.
The drugmaker plans to reduce its Swiss workforce from about 300 staffers to roughly 70 by the end of the year, Bloomberg News first reported Wednesday, citing unnamed sources close to the matter.
Pfizer declined to respond to Fierce’s question about the number or types of roles affected by the layoff round.
The development comes a little more than two months after Pfizer announced it would replace its longtime Swiss leader, Sabine Bruckner, with company veteran Rea Lal.
Lal has been with Pfizer for more than 16 years, the company said in announcing her appointment to managing director of Pfizer Switzerland this past September. Before taking over the role from Bruckner on Dec. 1, Lal was serving as the lead of Pfizer’s access and value department.
The Swiss reorganization falls under Pfizer's global cost-cutting initiative, which has continued to grow in scope after Pfizer debuted its initial program back in October 2023.
As of April of this year, Pfizer had lifted its overall savings target to $7.7 billion through 2027. Pfizer has said it expects to realize $4.5 billion of that sum in net cost savings by the end of 2025.
“As has been shared publicly, Pfizer is undertaking a multi-year, large-scale cost-cutting initiative to realign the R&D organization, reduce administrative expenses and optimize manufacturing operations,” Pfizer’s spokesperson told Fierce Thursday.
Pfizer isn't the only large drugmaker adjusting its operations in Switzerland. Late last month, Basel-based Novartis said it would invest $26 million for an automation overhaul at its manufacturing complex in Stein. In addition to that move, Novartis will also cease manufacturing and packaging of tablets and capsules at the site by the end of 2027, which will result in about 550 layoffs.
At the same time, Novartis noted that it will also invest $80 million in a facility at Schweizerhalle to beef up siRNA manufacturing in the country. That project is expected to create about 80 new jobs in Switzerland by the end of 2028.