AstraZeneca plans to reduce annual costs by 1.5 billion US dollars, equivalent to £1.1 billion, as part of a major three-year restructuring programme designed to fund investment in new medicines. The London-listed pharmaceutical company said the overhaul would incur restructuring charges of up to two billion dollars, or £1.5 billion, though it did not disclose specific details about where savings would be achieved or whether job losses would result.
The Anglo-Swedish firm employs 100,000 workers globally, with around 10,000 based in the UK. Its global headquarters are in Cambridge, and it operates research and development and manufacturing sites in Macclesfield, Cheshire, as well as locations in London and Speke, Liverpool. Chief financial officer Aradhana Sarin said the reshaping programme would involve hiring in some areas while cutting back in others. She stated that the company did not expect overall headcount to shrink, describing it as a reorganisation that would upskill and reskill employees in some divisions while reducing staffing slightly in others. The programme would be widespread across the business rather than targeting specific locations or units, she added, and would incorporate new technology across all processes.
The cost-cutting initiative came as AstraZeneca reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter results. Pre-tax profits jumped 22 per cent to 3.96 billion dollars, equivalent to £2.9 billion, while operating profits also rose 22 per cent to 4.39 billion dollars, or £3.21 billion. The company said savings generated through the restructuring would be reinvested back into the business, principally supporting its drug pipeline.
AstraZeneca is pursuing an ambitious growth strategy centred on new drug development. It has more than 180 projects in development and is targeting 80 billion dollars, or £58.8 billion, in annual sales by 2030, backed by approximately 20 new medicine launches. Chief executive Pascal Soriot said the company was on track to deliver its 2030 ambition and sustain growth over the next decade, citing multiple potential blockbuster assets in late-stage development and rapidly scaling transformative technologies. The positive update drove AstraZeneca's share price up around 6 per cent on Friday to around £138, its highest level since July.
For UK savers and investors, the restructuring and stronger profits signal AstraZeneca's confidence in its long-term growth prospects, though uncertainty remains around the scale and location of any redundancies among its 10,000 UK staff.