* Eight out of 27 R&D sites will close worldwide
* More efficient R&D model to be in place by 2013
* Awaiting FDA marketing decision on heart drug Multaq
* FDA decision was expected this quarter
(Rewrites to add FDA decision on Multaq, updates shares)
By Caroline Jacobs
PARIS, June 30 (Reuters) - French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis is reshaping its research and development, shutting some of its sites and still awaiting the U.S. health regulator's final verdict on experimental heart drug Multaq.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) marketing approval for Multaq -- touted as the first possible blockbuster in several years from Sanofi -- within hours.
Changes to its R&D and the pending decision on Multaq are key for Sanofi which is searching for promising new drugs through partnerships or acquisitions to offset a looming drop in sales as patents on some of its multi-billion euro drugs expire.
Sanofi said on Tuesday it would close eight of its 27 research and development sites, without forced layoffs, making the activity more efficient and open to outside collaboration to boost innovation in response to changes in the drug industry.
The new R&D model, to be in place by 2013, included measures that group researchers in more productive structures, train them to adapt to changes, as well as its earlier announced strategy of working more closely with academics, hospitals and biotechs.
Productivity will focus on diabetes, cancer and age-linked diseases as well as anti-inflammatory and anti-infectious diseases, Christian Lajoux, head of Sanofi-Aventis France, said in a conference call.
He declined to give financial details of the reorganisation, which entails closing four sites in France and sites in Britain, Japan, Spain and the United States, referring to Sanofi's second-quarter earnings presentation at the end of next month.
Since the arrival of Chris Viehbacher as Sanofi's chief executive in December, Sanofi has overhauled its pipeline of drugs in development, slashing 14, while opening its doors to partnerships to replenish it mainly with biotech products.
COMPLEX BIOTECHNOLOGY
The pharmaceutical industry is increasingly shifting its focus to research based on more complex biotechnology, which is harder to copy and therefore less prone to generic arrivals, from chemical-based innovation.
"We are living through radical times of change for research," R&D head Marc Cluzel said in a statement, adding R&D needed to be "reinvented", making "use of novel technologies and to create new concepts" through "knowledge from outside sources".
Sanofi said no forced job cuts would take place but that a plan for voluntary departures was being considered.
The company, which has staff of 13,000 in R&D and administrative posts, had no target for voluntary departures.
Sanofi shares rose as much as 3.1 percent on Tuesday and closed 1 percent higher at 41.87 euros, recouping some of their losses after the company said European studies highlighting a possible link between cancer and its diabetes drug Lantus were of poor quality.
Sanofi is counting on Lantus, vaccines as well as yet-to-be approved Multaq to help make up for patent expiries from 2010 to 2013 on drugs that account for about a fifth of its revenues.
"Sanofi-Aventis confirms that the FDA has not yet notified the company of their final decision regarding the Multiq new drug application," spokesman Jean-Marc Podvin said on Tuesday.
Sanofi has predicted annual sales of more than 1 billion euro ($1.41 billion) for Multaq, generically known as dronedarone, while Morgan Stanley analysts see sales of as much as 3 billion to 4 billion euros.
Atrial fibrillation is an abnormal heart rhythm in which the upper chambers of the heart beat in an uncoordinated manner. which can cause palpitations, shortness of breath and fatigue and raise the risk of more serious heart problems.
An independent panel in March advised that patients with severe types of heart failure, known as Class III and IV, should not be allowed to use the drug and that Sanofi could not claim the drug lowered the risk of death.
(Editing by Jon Loades-Carter and Marcel Michelson)