Pfizer Wyeth acquisition could affect jobs (NYSE:PFE)

On a Thursday morning, Pfizer announced that they have successfully completed the acquisition of Wyeth following the receipt of regulatory approval from all the government authorities required by the merger agreement and approval by Wyeth shareholders. However, the merger is not a good news for everybody as Pfizer R&D Chief Martin Mackay has said in an interview that Pfizer is having a plan to cut billions in R&D costs as it now combines its laboratory operations with Wyeth and therefore they do not need to handle the R&D operations and spend more of company’s expenditure on R&D section.

Mackay further confirmed that the combine research budget would reduces as Pfizer reviews both companies’ program over a period of six weeks and probably will manage to save around US$ 3 billion on R&D spending and one of the quickest ways to bring down the R&D spending is to cut down R&D jobs. Hence, many analysts believe that thousands of scientists currently working in Pfizer R&D section might lose their jobs very soon. After the merger is complete, Pfizer will look after the pharmaceutical research work and Wyeth will have to control and take charge of the biotech drug development.