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* U.S. head to address drugmaker's staff on Dec. 3
* Hundreds of jobs expected to be cut in U.S. market
* Marks roll out of previously announced cost-saving plan
* GSK announced 1 bln pounds cost cuts over 3 years at Q3
By Ben Hirschler
LONDON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline will thisweek inform U.S. staff of hundreds of job cuts in its biggestmarket as the drugmaker starts implementing a major cost-savingprogramme, sources familiar with the matter said on Sunday.
Britain's top drugmaker announced at third-quarter resultson Oct. 22 that the new restructuring scheme would save 1billion pounds ($1.56 billion) in annual costs over three years,but it has yet to tell employees where the axe will fall.
Staff in the United States, where GSK has been strugglingwith falling sales of respiratory drugs, will be briefed on thechanges on Wednesday by the company's head of North Americanpharmaceuticals Deirdre Connelly, the sources said.
A GSK spokesman declined to go into details but said the aimof the restructuring programme was to improve performance byreducing complexity and establishing a smaller, more focused andlower-cost organization.
"Each business unit is currently deciding how to respond tothis challenge. When we do have proposals, we will first sharethose with our employees," he said in an e-mailed statement.
Respiratory medicine has traditionally been GSK's strongestbusiness and Advair - an inhaled therapy for asthma and chroniclung disease - is its biggest seller. But Advair sales are nowtumbling the United States, while new lung drugs Breo and Anoroare proving slow to take off.
Advair has been hit by competition from rivals and anincreasing trend by U.S. health insurers to use hardball tacticsto get drugmakers to cut prices for older products.
French drugmaker Sanofi has reported similarpressures from U.S. insurers in the diabetes market.
U.S. insurers, who themselves are under pressure to keeppremiums in check, are pushing back particularly hard on pricesfor medicines in areas like diabetes and respiratory diseaseswhere there are multiple options for doctors and patients.
The revamped GSK operation in the United States is designedto defend the company's margins in this tough environment. Thechanges will also take into account the movement of somepharmaceuticals staff as a result of a complex asset swap dealwith Switzerland's Novartis, which is taking overGSK's oncology business.
(1 US dollar = 0.6391 British pound) (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Jon Boyle)
