SANOFI-AVENTIS, the world’s third-largest drugmaker, has put its manufacturing operations in Waterford under review after announcing the loss of more than 820 jobs in France and Germany in recent weeks.

While the pharma giant is known to have ramped up production in Waterford, where about 200 people are involved mainly in the manufacture of creams and ointments, it is understood that the plant has been targeted by senior executives as part of its cost-cutting drive.

The future of the facility, based in the IDA Industrial Park in Waterford, is expected to be decided over the next six months. The IDA said it has not been notified of any review or plans by Sanofi-Aventis to downsize its presence in Ireland. The group also employs about 130 people in Dublin in sales and marketing. The combined Irish businesses have sales of more than €135m.

John McLaughlin, the managing director of the Irish operation, said the company “never comments on rumours”.

Sanofi-Aventis was formed in 2004 when Paris-based Sanofi-Synthelabo took over its Franco-German peer Aventis Pharma for €54.5 billion.

The Irish operation is a legacy of the Aventis side of the business, which itself had been the result of a merger between Germany’s Hoechst and France’s Rhône-Poulenc in 1999.

The group has blamed the announced job losses in Europe on relentless tightening-up of healthcare spending by governments on the Continent.

Many European governments are forcing down prescription drug prices and reimbursement levels they negotiate with drugmakers as they grapple with high public healthcare deficits.

Blaming health spending cuts in France and Germany in particular, as well as generic competition for its top-selling blood thinner Plavix, the group recently unveiled a 12% drop in its third-quarter net profit to €1.7 billion.

Sanofi-Aventis has about 100,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of €27 billion.