AstraZeneca will transform its U.S. Commercial business as part of the company’s return to growth strategy. Following the company’s Year End Results announcement this past February, these changes reflect the ongoing focus to further streamline and drive greater efficiency across the entire organization. AstraZeneca continues to face loss of exclusivity impacts from many of its legacy products and works to compete in an ever-changing external environment. By diligently prioritizing, AstraZeneca will continue to successfully launch and commercialize new medicines, meet the needs of our customers and patients, and ultimately help AstraZeneca return to growth.

As part of these changes, AstraZeneca has made the necessary but difficult decisions required to reflect a lower U.S. revenues in 2017. The company will reduce U.S. Commercial Business expenses, which includes the elimination of approximately 700 positions (roughly 80 of those will come from existing vacancies) and a reduction in discretionary spend. The impacted positions are across the U.S. organization, including the company’s North America Commercial headquarters, and some field-based sales and field-based non-sales roles.

This reduction will contribute to the planned decline in Core SG&A costs in FY 2016 and FY 2017, as previously announced in February of this year.