The cuts, which affected staff marketing the asthma drugs Breztri and Airsupra, mark an early step in the company’s three-year cost-saving program, Bloomberg reported.

  • Some affected employees are expected to be reassigned within the company, which employs more than 25,000 people in the U.S., the report said.
  • AstraZeneca’s Respiratory & Immunology portfolio generated $7.3 billion in product revenue in the first nine months of 2026, accounting for 16% of the company’s total. 
  • The company is now gearing up for loss of exclusivity on its drugs Farxiga and Brilinta in certain markets.

Drugmaker AstraZeneca (AZN) has reportedly eliminated roughly 600 positions from its U.S. respiratory and immunology commercial teams as it seeks to cut costs and realign its pipeline.

The cuts, which affected staff marketing the asthma drugs Breztri and Airsupra, mark an early step in the company’s three-year cost-saving program, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Some affected employees are expected to be reassigned within the company, which employs more than 25,000 people in the U.S., the report said. AstraZeneca also reportedly scaled back its contract with Syneos Health, a partner that helps sell its products in the U.S. market.

AZN stock traded flat at the time of writing, after rising as high as 1% and dropping briefly by 0.2%.

AZN's Respiratory Franchise, Patent Pressures

AstraZeneca’s Respiratory & Immunology portfolio generated $7.3 billion in product revenue in the first nine months of 2026, accounting for 16% of the company’s total and rising 10% at constant exchange rates, according to its third-quarter results. The segment delivered double-digit growth, with key contributors including asthma drug Fasenra, which rose 13–14%, and COPD drug Breztri, which advanced 16–18%.

AstraZeneca has been redirecting resources from mature products facing patent losses—such as Farxiga and Brilinta—toward expanding its oncology, rare disease, and next-generation pipeline, while committing $50 billion to US investments including manufacturing.

It has also pursued a string of portfolio-building deals this year to expand into obesity, oncology combinations, and vaccines. In January, it struck a licensing pact with China’s CSPC covering up to eight next-generation obesity and diabetes candidates, with a potential value of about $18.5 billion including $1.2 billion upfront.

In September, it completed a global license for Dizal’s drug Zegfrovy for lung cancer, paying $600 million upfront plus up to $900 million in milestones, and separately invested $2 billion for roughly a 12% stake in Summit Therapeutics. Earlier this month, it was also reported that the company made a non-binding offer of around $10 billion for Rhythm Pharmaceuticals to strengthen its rare-disease obesity franchise.

The company has separately initiated a three-year cost-saving program. The company expects the effort to incur up to $2 billion in one-time restructuring costs while delivering $1.5 billion in annualized pre-tax run-rate benefits by the end of 2029, with the savings reinvested principally in the pipeline.

How Did AZN Retail Traders React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around AZN stock stayed within the ‘bearish’ territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume remained at ‘normal’ levels.

The stock has gained 5% year-to-date. 

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