Novartis reveals USD 400m of further cuts

Swiss-based pharmaceutical company Novartis has revealed plans to make additional savings of USD 400m at its pharmaceutical business in addition to the previously announced USD 1bn of cuts, according to local media reports.

The SonntagsZeitung newspaper said that Novartis' head of pharmaceuticals, Thomas Ebeling, had confirmed the new plans in discussions with analysts at the group's Pharma Brand and Business Review on 12 September.

Novartis instituted the cuts to make savings in marketing and sales, where costs rose 11 per cent in 2006.

The newspaper also reported that Novartis was going to make big cuts in its US salesforce after recent product setbacks, after the company expanded it by between 6,000-7,000 in 2006.