Novartis to cut thousands of jobs in global revamp – paper

ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss drugmaker Novartis will cut thousands of jobs worldwide as it combines its pharma and oncology businesses in a reorganisation announced last week, Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed company sources.

More than 100 jobs could also disappear at Novartis’s Swiss sites in Rotkreuz and Basel, the paper reported.

Contacted by Reuters, a Novartis spokesperson said efficiencies would come through leaner structures and would “inevitably lead to roles being impacted”, but it was too early to give specific numbers.

Novartis, which employs about 108,000 people worldwide, said last week it was integrating its pharmaceuticals and oncology units into an innovative medicines (IM) business to simplify its structure, targeting savings of at least $1 billion by 2024.

The spokesperson said the company expected the new structure to be fully in place and operational by the end of 2022.

(Reporting by Oliver Hirt and Silke Koltrowitz; Editing by Michael Shields)