Pfizer has unveiled plans to cut its workforce in Spain by 11%, or 220 staff, driven by the financial crisis in Europe and regulatory moves in the country to reduce its healthcare spend, according to PharmaTimes.

The business newspaper Expansion has reported that Pfizer will present an ERE (opening the process of redundancies) which will apply to its administrative and sales forces teams. However, employees at Pfizer’s production facilities in Madrid and Olot (Girona) will not be affected.

A Pfizer official was quoted by Expansion as saying that the reasons for the cut are the financial woes being suffered by Europe as well as increasing costs of the Spanish healthcare system. The company is also concerned about new legislation passed by the central government and autonomies to push more generic use, as well as changes to the reference pricing system.

The news from Spain comes a week after reports that Pfizer is cutting more than 500 jobs in Germany, again as a result of changes in pricing regulations.