Roche Holding is to cut 25 jobs in County Clare as part of a wider restructuring programme that will see it remove 4,800 jobs worldwide.
The loss of around 6 per cent of the company's global workforce of 82,000 over the next two years comes as the Swiss drugmaker said it would cut 2.4 billion Swiss francs from its annual costs from 2012 onwards, with 1.8 billion francs of savings expected next year.
Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Carey described the loss of 25 jobs in Clarecastle, County Clare as an "economic body blow" for the area.
“Globally, the company has announced a large restructuring effort which will affect some 6,000 jobs. In that context, while any job losses in Clarecastle are regrettable, I would hope that the impact of the global restructuring on the Clarecastle plant would be kept to a minimum," he said.
“There is significant development and investment in the plant and I would be confident that the long-term viability of the Clarecastle Roche plant is secure into the future.”
Until now, the world's largest maker of cancer drugs has been alone among major European pharmaceutical companies in not implementing any significant cost-cutting in recent years.
But events have caught up with the Basel-based group this year, following a series of setbacks for its top-selling Avastin drug, used to fight a range of cancers, and disappointments for once-promising new drugs in its pipeline.
"The disclosed savings target of 2.4 billion francs per year from 2012 onwards is a positive surprise. The great majority of market participants expected Roche to announce savings of 2 billion francs," said DZ Bank analyst Thomas Maul.
"Roche pessimists had not even expected the company to achieve 2 billion francs in savings. We might see double-digit upside revisions of earnings estimates (and) a clear improvement of sentiment," Mr Maul said.
Price pressure in the United States and Europe is also expected to have an impact of 500 million francs on the group this year and this is likely to rise to 1 billion francs next year, Roche chief executive Severin Schwan said.
The group will slash 4,800 jobs worldwide, or about 6 per cent of its current workforce of around 82,000, over the next two years and is also looking for buyers for some of its sites in the United States.
Most of the planned job cuts will be in Roche's pharma unit, particularly in the division's global sales and marketing organisation, and in manufacturing.
Additional reporting: Reuters