Under a restructuring operation declared in late October by GlaxoSmithKline, largest pharmaceutical company of UK is going to lay off 900 employees at Research Triangle Park site in North Carolina as drug research is consolidated in Philadelphia and in Stevenage, near London. As per GSK, some staff would be provided the chance to relocate to other sites.

According to a company spokesman, the program is important and will lead to loss of many workers in the US commercial business and a similar number in R&D activities which are based in the US.

GSK announced in October that 1 billion pounds would be saved in annual costs by the new restructuring program over three years, though the details were not revealed at that time.

"Cuts are not being made across the board but are strategic, focused changes to allow GSK to operate more efficiently. This is a rescaling of work to reflect market forces that were anticipated but that have accelerated and are affecting the entire industry", said a spokesman.

GSK's major profit in business is from respiratory medicine. Advair, an inhaled therapy for asthma a chronic lung disease, is the biggest selling medicine of GSK. But sale of Advair is decreasing now in the US and new lung drugs Breo and Anoro are also proving slow in action.

Advair is facing competition from rivals moreover, the US health insurers are now making Pharma companies cut the prices of old products even more. French rival Sanofi SA also stated the same pressure from US insurers in the diabetes market.

As per the company reports, sales of asthma treatment Advair have decreased by 25% in the US because of increased competition and 'price and contracting pressures'.