AstraZeneca Eliminating 1,800 R&D Jobs in Delaware

AstraZeneca PLC is eliminating 1,800 research and development jobs as part of a restructuring process. The pharmaceutical company said about 550 jobs will be eliminated at its U.S. headquarters in Delaware, where its psychiatric research laboratory will be closed.

AstraZeneca will also be closing research sites in Sweden and the United Kingdom, the Associated Press reports. Overall, AstraZeneca plans to cut 8,000 more jobs, or 12 percent of its workforce by 2014. Its research and development efforts will now be focused getting drugs through clinical trials and regulatory approval, the AP reports.