The Danish drugmaker is trying to “move with the times,” and since the fashion among other struggling pharmaceutical companies is to boot employees, Nycomed is doing the same by cutting about 10 percent of its workforce.

The decision comes after the recent acquisition of Altana Pharma and amid concern over the 2010 patent expiration on Protonix, a drug that generates nearly half of all sales. And so the Great Dane, Nycomed ceo Hakan Bjorklund, says the pain will be spread across Europe in hopes of remaking the company into solid, mid-sized player that develops and licenses drugs.

About 200 jobs will be cut from “central functions” in Germany and Denmark and 585 will be lost in R&D. Another 465 will be axed from sales in 14 countries, including Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. But Germany, where Altana was based, will take the biggest hit, losing 930 jobs, including nearly 800 from Altana headquarters.

Curiously, Bjorklund offers no specifics about he hopes to accomplish his transition or how much money will be saved. And since there’s no game plan to quickly replace sales of Protonix, which Wyeth sells in the US, the Great Dane may be pressing the delete button repeatedly.

You can read more at PharmaTimes.

[tags]Job Cuts, Nycomed, Protonix[/tags]