Pfizer is in the midst of an aggressive, multi-year cost-cutting effort, which so far has left nearly 2,000 people jobless.
Pfizer will part ways with more than 200 employees across Switzerland as part of continuing effort to slow its cash burn, according to a Wednesday report from Bloomberg.
After the layoffs, the pharma expects its Switzerland headcount to shrink to around 70 people, down from 300, the publication noted, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. Pfizer expects to complete this workforce reduction by the end of the year. In a statement to Bloomberg, a company representative said that the pharma is “streamlining and realigning” resources in an effort to reduce operational complexity.
The cuts come after Pfizer in late September announced that Sabine Bruckner, who has helmed the pharma’s operations in the country since 2020, will be replaced by Rea Lal. While Bruckner was reassigned to a different post within Pfizer, Lal, who was previously overseeing the company’s Access and Value department, will have her mandate reduced, Bloomberg’s sources said.
Pfizer declined to comment on specific figures regarding its operations in Switzerland.
Since first announcing a sweeping, multi-year cost realignment effort in October 2023, Pfizer has cut roughly 2,000 employees across its global operations. That same year, the company let go of around 850 employees, affecting sites in Connecticut and Michigan, as well as various offices in Europe.
In 2024, Pfizer put 700 jobs on the chopping block, affecting people in Washington, Colorado, North Carolina and Kansas, among other sites.
Earlier this year, a spokesperson informed BioSpace that the pharma expects to generate about $4.5 billion in savings by the end of 2025. To help hit this goal, the company has eliminated some 150 posts so far, not counting the Swiss cuts.
Aside from workforce reductions, Pfizer is also looking to cut off commitments that are no longer fruitful. Last month the pharma was reportedly considering divesting its stake in pandemic partner BioNTech, a move that would provide around $500 million. The German company at the time however reiterated that it maintains a “close and strong collaboration” with Pfizer.
Despite the savings push, Pfizer also appears to still be sitting on hefty dealmaking firepower. Last month, after a public and messy bidding war with Novo Nordisk, the pharma came out on top to win the hand of obesity star Metsera with a $9.2 billion offer. Then, just weeks later, Pfizer again put $1.9 billion on the line to license a GLP-1 drug from China’s YaoPharma.
The pharma’s business development budget still has around $6 billion left, CEO Albert Bourla told Guggenheim Partners at a recent meeting.
