Pfizer chief says jobs will go in takeover

LONDON (AP) — Pfizer Inc.’s chief executive acknowledged Tuesday that a potential merger with AstraZeneca would lead to job losses — but promised to keep key research jobs in Britain as part of its $106 billion takeover bid.

CEO Ian Read refused to give specifics on where the cuts might take place as he testified before Parliament’s Business Innovation and Skills Committee but described them as an inevitable outcome of the merger. Still he told skeptical lawmakers the company would honor its promises to keep 20 percent of its global research and development workforce in the U.K.