The job cuts come less than two months after U.S. parent company Johnson & Johnson said it would reduce its global work force by up to 4 percent -- or up to 4,820 jobs -- due to slumping sales of heart stents, its No. 2 anemia drug, Procrit, and looming patent expirations.

Janssen spokesman Stefaan Gijssels said the Belgian unit's decision to cut support services was prompted by the need to focus on research and a shift to more "volume-based" sales.

"We need money to invest in research. Costs in research are increasing rapidly," he said.

Shedding 521 permanent employees and 167 temporary contractors from plants in Beerse and Geel would help the company shave 15 percent off its costs, he said.

Janssen employs 4,723 people in Belgium with over a thousand working for the unit elsewhere in the world.

Bill Price, a spokesman at Johnson & Johnson's headquarters in New Brunswick, N.J., said the cuts in Belgium are part of the restructuring announced in late July. He said the company expects to give an update on job cuts and other restructuring moves when it releases its third-quarter earnings report on Oct. 16.

Janssen faces shrinking revenue streams as its top seller, anti-psychotic drug Risperdal, loses patent protection next June. Another top seller made by Johnson & Johnson's Ortho-McNeill Neurologic unit, Topamax for epilepsy and other disorders, loses patent protection in March 2009.

J&J, which employs about 120,500 people in 57 countries, said in July that the restructuring -- its largest ever -- was triggered by "short-term pressure" and would make the company stronger.

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