Novartis to cut jobs in Switzerland, UK

Novartis will cut 2,550 jobs in Switzerland and Britain over four years, it said on Tuesday, as the Swiss drugmaker strives to boost profits and focus on new medicines. Switzerland will bear the brunt, with 2,150 cuts planned at four factories and its Swiss-based business services unit. Some 400 jobs will also go in Grimsby, northeast England, where the company will close a plant that makes pills. Novartis currently employs around 124,000 people worldwide.