Johnson & Johnson to cut 688 jobs at Janss

The Associated Press reports that Belgian pharmaceutical maker Janssen-Cilag will eliminate 688 jobs as it seeks to put more money into research and development, and as exclusive patent rights to top-selling drugs expire. The job cuts come less than two months after U.S. parent company Johnson & Johnson said it would reduce its global work force by up to 4 percent—or up to 4,820 jobs—due to slumping sales of heart stents, its No. 2 anemia drug, Procrit, and looming patent expirations. Janssen employs 4,723 people in Belgium with over a thousand working for the unit elsewhere in the world.