Why? Developing drugs has always been both risky and vastly expensive but the recession has pushed many big names into frenzied restructuring in a bid to cut costs.
Across the board, approximately 10 per cent of industry jobs have gone as firms move production and R&D to cheaper overseas factories and patents run out on profitable drugs.
Jobs already gone: 5,000
Number of jobs likely to go: 5,000
Recent redundancies: Pfizer (4,000); Eli Lilly (160); GlaxoSmithKline(200).
