That’s what some analysts are saying, anyway. As AstraZeneca prepares to absorb MedImmune, the sales and marketing force, which makes up about a quarter of the company’s 2,500 total employees, will likely be hit hardest, says Gbola Amusa, a Sanford Bernstein analyst. AstraZeneca execs, under pressure for paying $15 billion, say two-thirds of an expected $500 million in savings could come from cutting overlap between the two companies.

Such a move would make sense, he says, because sales of MedImmune’s blockbuster Synagis respiratory drug are flattening and FluMist sales are withering. “AstraZeneca may be more likely to take out padding where people haven’t been performing up to snuff,” Amusa tells The Baltimore Business Journal. “Sales and marketing people could lose their jobs, almost by half.”

The research and development staff, nearly a quarter of MedImmune’s total roster, could see another 10 percent in cuts, he says. MedImmune’s manufacturing and research facilities, however, are likely to remain as is, analysts say. Plants in Maryland, California, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, United Kingdom and the Netherlands provided ample bait for AstraZeneca, which was aiming to enter the vaccine business and boost its biologics business of creating medicines from human and animal.

Hat tip to PharmaGossip