Pharmaceuticals company MSD is cutting a further 440 jobs at its factory in Oss, reducing the size of the research and development department to just 30 people by 2016.

The job losses are part of a worldwide reorganisation. Disappointing research results have made the redundancies unavoidable, the company said. The production arm in Oss, with a workforce of 1,500, is unaffected.

In November the company announced 140 job losses in Oss.