Pfizer slashes 10,000 jobs, plans to close plants worldwide

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) announced today that it would cut some 10% of its worldwide work force -- 10,000 jobs -- in an effort to stem costs. The company, which announced better than expected earnings today, hopes to cut up to $2 billion in annual costs to help curtail losses due to generic competition.

It said it will also close three research sites in Michigan and two manufacturing plants in New York and Nebraska. It may also sell another manufacturing site in Germany, and close research sites in Japan and France, according to an Associated Press story in Forbes.

Pfizer, which became a household name in 1998 when it introduced Viagra, is in many ways a textbook example of what happens when a pharmaceutical company becomes reliant on one or two blockbuster drugs to drive growth. Drugs only have patent protection for so long, after which they can fall prey to much cheaper generic versions. By the end of this year, Pfizer will have suffered through patent protection losses on several of its big name drugs, including the anti-depressant Zoloft and blood pressure pill Norvasc.

The company suffered a giant setback recently when it had to pull the plug on clinical trials for its "good cholesterol" drug Torcetrapib, which it had hoped would be in place in time to help bolster revenues lost when its blockbuster drug Lipitor loses patent protection in 2010. Lipitor brings in some $12 billion in revenues.

With nothing sexy coming down its pipeline anytime soon, analysts have said they doubt Pfizer has the virility to push major sales growth going forward. Its only recourse looks to be slashing costs, via layoffs and plant closings, or through acquisitions. The fourth quarter already saw CEO Jeffrey Kindler slashing the U.S. sales force by some 20%.