In an effort to “evolve” its global development organization, Novartis is set to exit a technical research and development site in San Diego, the Swiss pharma confirmed to Endpoints News.
The “phased exit” will affect about 100 staffers, with the company to leave the site by the second half of next year. According to a California WARN notice, 29 staffers will be laid off in San Diego with an effective date of September 6. The filing noted the permanent closure at 10210 Campus Point Drive.
The pharma will still have a “research presence” in San Diego — with a focus on indications like oncology, neuroscience and immunology — with “approximately 580 associates,” the spokesperson told Endpoints.
Novartis’ technical research and development team, or TRD, is delegated to progress assets through drug development and quality control. The company will now “consolidate” its TRD work in other US locations, the spokesperson added.
These changes are a part of the company’s two- to three-year vision to “build future capabilities and access global talent pools” as well as “parallel build-up and reduction of roles in certain locations,” the spokesperson said.
In April, Novartis already said it had its eye on cuts to its global development team, laying off 680 workers, 440 of which were based in Switzerland. It followed a global reorg in 2022, with as many as 8,000 jobs on the line.
Novartis has 5,511 full-time staffers at biomedical research facilities in San Diego; Emeryville, CA; East Hanover, NJ; Cambridge, MA; and Basel, Switzerland, according to its 2023 annual report. The company has a total of more than 76,000 full-time employees at the end of 2023.
Several life sciences companies have adjusted their San Diego presence in recent months. Takeda said in May it was going to shutter its research center in the city, and DNA sequencing company Pacific Biosciences also announced in April it is closing its San Diego office.
Novartis’ TRD exit in San Diego was first reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune. The pharma giant is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings next Thursday.