Biotech firms to lay off more than 500 workers
Biotech giants Genentech and Sanofi are set to lay off hundreds of Bay Area workers in the coming months.
Genentech disclosed in regulatory filings this week that it will lay off 436 employees at its South San Francisco headquarters at 1 DNA Way. The layoffs, part of a plan to close the site, are expected to begin June 5.
The job cuts will affect a range of roles, including administrators, scientists, directors, project managers, engineers, analysts and others.
The company previously laid off 265 workers at the facility in 2023 and 474 Bay Area-affiliated employees in 2020, saying it had been planning for more than a decade to wind down production at its South San Francisco location, where it has manufactured drugs and cancer therapies since the early 1980s.
“More than 15 years ago, we made a strategic decision to exit commercial manufacturing in South San Francisco,” Genentech said in a statement. “This decision was part of a thoughtful, long-term plan to focus clinical supply manufacturing in South San Francisco where it is co-located with our R&D organization while moving commercial manufacturing to other sites in our global manufacturing network.”
Last month, Roche Holding AG, Genentech’s parent company, announced the sale of the drugmaker’s manufacturing facility in Vacaville to Swiss biotech firm Lonza, for an estimated $1.2 billion in cash.
Meanwhile, French pharmaceutical company Sanofi, also based in South San Francisco, has announced the impending closure of its facility at 2 Tower Place. The closure, expected to be permanent, will affect approximately 100 employees. The layoffs are scheduled to start on June 3 and continue until Sept. 16, when the company plans to cease its U.S. operations.
“This closure is anticipated to be permanent and affect the entire site, including remote employees,” Sanofi wrote in its notice to California’s Employment Development Department.
The layoffs are part of Sanofi’s planned divestiture of Amunix Pharmaceuticals, an immuno-oncology company it acquired for $1 billion in 2021.
Separately, Hinge Health, a San Francisco-based tech company that provides online joint and muscle care, announced Thursday that it plans to cut approximately 10% of its workforce across various divisions. TechCrunch first reported the news of the layoffs.
The company, valued at $6.2 billion in October 2021, has approximately 1,700 employees, according to a LinkedIn estimate, meaning that nearly 200 positions could be impacted by the cuts.
“As we continue to reimagine musculoskeletal care, we are also committed to building a long-term sustainable business,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.