Novartis to axe almost 2,000 jobs in US Novartis, which is already cutting about 2,000 jobs in Switzerland, said the US reductions will lead to annual savings of about $450m (£294m) a year by 2013. Novartis shareholders received a second blow on Friday after another treatment the drugmaker has been developing for blood pressure showed disappointing results. The company said it will take a $900m charge after clinical tests showed that a medicine called Rasilez made the condition of patients worse, not better. Rasilez had been seen by some as a potential successor to Diovan, which loses its patent in Japan in 2013. Analysts said the restructuring should shield profit margins at Novartis as it works to develop new bestselling medicines. Novartis shares fell 0.7pc to Sfr52.7.