Sanofi has announced an approximate 20% reduction in staff at its US diabetes and cardiovascular business unit as part of a new realignment, the company said in a statement. Sanofi announced the realignment strategy at an internal meeting on December 9, 2016.

The staff reductions include the sales force and some business support functions for its US diabetes and cardiovascular business.

Sanofi said in its statement that “Sanofi US is committed to treating all impacted employees fairly and respectfully. Impacted employees have been offered separation packages, which include severance pay, health benefits and outplacement services. In addition, employees in good standing can apply for other positions based on their qualifications.”

Sanofi’s diabetes and cardiovascular business saw a 1.8% decline in sales to EUR 5.7 billion ($6.1 billion) in the first nine months of 2016. It’s diabetes franchise has also been seeing declining sales as its top-selling product, Lantus (insulin glargine recombinant), faces generic competition. For the first nine months of 2016, sales of the diabetes franchise fell by 3.0% to EUR 5.4 billion ($5.7 billion), driven by a 10.7% drop in Lantus sales to approximately EUR 4.3 billion ($4.5 billion).

Source: Sanofi