Shire to shut its St-Laurent facility

Global biotech company Shire has served notice it intends to close its facility in Ville St-Laurent, which employs 65 people.

In a brief communiqué, the company said it will be consolidating its Canadian operations in St-Laurent and in Mississauga (where there are currently 25 employees) somewhere in the Toronto area by the fall of 2017, “subject to a suitable site being secured.”

It said that “as the most populous city in Canada with the largest biotech cluster in the country, Toronto provides proximity to multiple Shire stakeholders, including peer biotechnology companies and the life science communities that support them.”

It added that it is “fully committed to supporting employees through the transition and providing adequate support based on individual circumstances.”

Based in Ireland, Shire has more than 22,000 employees in over 100 countries.

Earlier this year, it completed a $32-billion merger with Baxalta Inc.