Business this week

Pfizer, the world's biggest drugs firm, said it would cut almost 8,000 jobs (on top of 2,000 announced last month) and close several manufacturing and research facilities as part of a restructuring effort. The closures include the production site in Brooklyn where Pfizer was founded in 1849. The patent on Pfizer's biggest-earning drug is due to expire in 2010; a potential blockbuster was cancelled last year; and Pfizer, like its rivals, faces a struggle to come up with new money-spinners and growing competition from makers of generic drugs. See article