Actavis to pare down sales staff of branded-drugs division

DUBLIN — Actavis will lay off more than 30% of the sales staff from its branded-drugs division as part of its acquisition of Warner Chilcott, the drug maker said.

The company said that Actavis Specialty Brands would have about 750 employees, compared with the 1,100 it had when it finished acquiring Warner Chilcott last month. The company said the smaller sales organization would have "equal or better" coverage than the legacy Warner Chilcott organization in all therapeutic areas, including women's health, urology, gastroenterology and dermatology. The complete structure of the organization will be outlined at the company's investor day, in January.

"Beginning at close, we initiated an extensive assessment and review process to determine the appropriate structure for our U.S. specialty brands sales organization, recognizing that the two companies had significant overlap in key areas," Actavis specialty brands president Fred Wilkinson said. "I am confident that this organization will be an industry leader in providing support to healthcare professionals within the women's health, urology, dermatology and GI therapeutic categories."