“We restructure all the time. This year we spent 200 million pounds on restructuring, which we have absorbed,” Jean-Pierre Garnier, Glaxo’s ceo, told reporters. “It is important to reduce the cost structure of the company and maximise its profit margin.”

The drugmaker plans to launch five new drugs this year, including the Tykerb breast cancer treatment, and seek FDA approval in April for the Cervarix HPV vaccine, which will compete with Merck’s Gardasil.

For the most part, though, new meds won’t do much to boost results this year. And as older drugs lose patent protection, Glaxo sees earnings growth of just 8 percent to 10 percent this year. For the fourth-quarter, profits were slightly higher, although sales were flat and marketing costs rose. U.S. pharma sales increased 8 percent.

[tags]GlaxoSmithKline[/tags]