King Pharmaceuticals Cuts 760 Jobs

King Pharmaceuticals is cutting 760 jobs, or 22% of its workforce.

About 240 of the job losses are corporate positions associated with King’s $1.6 billion acquisition of drugmaker Alpharma. Of the rest, about 380 are in sales and about 140 are corporate.

The restructuring leaves King, which makes the blood pressure drug Altace, with a branded product sales force of about 720.

The Bristol, Tennessee-based company said the restructuring was sparked in part by a recent federal court decision invalidating two patents related to the company’s muscle relaxant Skelaxin.