AstraZeneca plans to double job cuts to 11 pct of work force as Q2 profits fall

AstraZeneca PLC said it will more than double previously planned job cuts as it reported Thursday that quarterly profit fell 12.5 percent.

AstraZeneca, Britain's second-largest drugmaker behind GlaxoSmithKline PLC, said it will eliminate around 7,600 positions, or 11 percent of its work force, as part of an expanded cost-cutting drive.

Net profit at the Anglo-Swedish company dipped to $1.4 billion (1.02 billion euros) from $1.6 billion a year ago despite a 10 percent rise in revenue to $7.3 billion (5.31 billion euros) because of costs related to the acquisition of MedIummune Inc.

Restructuring costs and higher development expenses offset strong sales from its key products _ heartburn treatment Nexium, antipsychotic Seroquel and cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor.

However, the company raised its full-year earnings forecast, narrowing the earnings per share range to $3.90 to $4.05 (2.84 euros to 2.95 euros), from the previous prediction of $3.80 to $4.05 (2.77 euros to 2.95 euros).

The job cuts are part of a cost-cutting drive aimed at producing more than $900 million (654.9 million euros) in annual savings by 2010.

The company announced cuts of around 3,000 positions in February, and Chief Executive David Brennan said the new losses would come from its European sales and marketing team as well as employees working in disease areas and regulatory affairs.

AstraZeneca shares rose 0.3 percent to 2,685 pence ($54.87; 39.93 euros) on the London Stock Exchange.

The combined sales of Nexium, Crestor, Seroquel, along with breast cancer treatment Arimidex and asthma treatment Symbicort were up 12 percent in the quarter at $3.8 billion (2.77 billion euros).

U.S. sales of Nexium, the Anglo-Swedish company's top-selling product, slid 1 percent on increasing generic competition, but rose 2 percent in other markets.

Asthma treatment Symbicort, which AstraZeneca launched in the key U.S. market in June, posted sales of $414 million (301.2 million euros), up 25 percent from the same quarter in 2006.

Brennan said that AstraZeneca is continuing to look for deals to strengthen its late-stage drug pipeline, but declined to comment on speculation that the company is considering buying the rights to an experimental schizophrenia drug, pimavanserin, which is being developed by Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc.