Merck has announced plans to lay off research-and-development workers at three East Coast sites, including its North Wales facility, writes Peter Loftus for The Wall Street Journal.

The move is part of a shakeup of its early-stage drug development efforts and also includes a change in focus to the health effects of micro-organisms, which inhabit the human body.

A spokeswoman from Merck said that the cuts and transfers will affect under 10 percent of employees in discovery, preclinical, and early development in Kenilworth and Rahway, N.J., as well as in North Wales.

The move represents the latest round of layoffs and reorganization for Merck’s research unit, once famous for pioneering drug development, but struggling for some time now.

Other large drug manufacturers, like Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline, have also cut research and development spending, or reorganized their research units to become more productive.

The Merck spokeswoman noted that the company is making these changes to allow it to have “earlier access to emerging external science and technology to augment our leading discovery and development capabilities.”

Read more about the layoffs in The Wall Street Journal by clicking here.