Pfizer, the world’s largest drug group, is expected to unveil plans to shed up to a tenth of its global workforce, despite being hugely profitable, because it is preparing for patents on several of its top-selling drugs to expire.

Jeffrey Kindler, Pfizer’s new chief executive, is set to unveil his strategy today in a briefing to analysts and investors in New York, when he will also reveal the fourth-quarter and full-year results. In the third quarter of last year, Pfizer earned $3.4 billion (£1.7 billion) on sales of $12.3 billion.

Analysts were expecting Mr Kindler to announce plans to save up to $2 billion a year by closing plants and shedding thousands of staff in manufacturing, administrative and marketing roles. The cuts may affect the UK, where Pfizer has about 6,000 staff. The group employs 100,000 people globally.

Although Pfizer is valued at $196 billion and produces a wide range of drugs, it suffered a big blow in November when it had to scrap development of torcetrapib, a cholesterol- lowering agent, after a string of patient deaths overshadowed other problems. Pfizer had hoped that torcetrapib would replace its Lipitor, the world’s top-selling drug, when Lipitor’s patent expires after 2010. Lipitor had sales of almost $11 billion for Pfizer in 2004.

The American group is facing growing pressure from makers of generic drugs over a number of its key products and it has already initiated cost- cutting in the United States. Two months ago, it said that it would cut about 20 per cent of its American salesforce, numbering 2,200 people.

Barbara Ryan, a Deutsche Bank analyst, said that she expects Mr Kindler to extend this effort outside the US and seek further savings of $2 billion. “Restructuring will be focused on improving processes within the organisation,” she said.

Pfizer is also likely to give details of plans to rebuild its pipeline of new drugs by buying in other companies’ technology.

The group produced revenues of $51.3 billion in 2005 and spent $7.4 billion on research and development.

In Britain, Pfizer is planning a big overhaul of its supply chain. As part of this, it has appointed UniChem, the wholesaling arm of Alliance Boots, as the sole distributor of all Pfizer medicines to pharmacies and dispensing doctors.

• America’s AIDS Healthcare Foundation plans to file a lawsuit today seeking a ban on Pfizer promoting recreational use of its impotence pill Viagra. The foundation claims that this leads to risky behaviour by men and an increase in sexually transmitted diseases.

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