Catalent is cutting more roles at its gene therapy manufacturing facility in Harmans, Maryland. This round of layoffs will affect 93 employees and will be effective on March 19, according to a Maryland Work Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filing.
The state's WARN report also notes the CDMO's dismissal of three other employees in nearby Baltimore.
In two waves of layoffs in the second half of last year, Catalent axed more than 400 jobs. Most of those reductions took place at the company's manufacturing campus in Harmans, which includes two facilities that support phase 3 through commercial production of gene therapies.
“Following last year’s announcement regarding a shift in demand from a large commercial customer, we have made additional, expected workforce reductions at our Baltimore site,” a Catalent spokesperson said in an emailed statement on Friday.
“While these changes are difficult, our Baltimore operations and our gene therapy business remain critical to Catalent,” the spokesperson added. “We continue to partner closely with both existing and new customers, supporting a growing pipeline of novel gene therapies.”
While Catalent has never confirmed the customer's identity, the initial layoffs came on the heels of Sarepta Therapeutics’ challenging run with the Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy Elevidys. In the wake of the deaths of two non-ambulatory patients who had received the gene therapy, the company briefly paused shipments to non-ambulatory patients in June of last year.
In a quarterly Securities and Exchange Commission filing in November, Sarepta explained that it entered into a “supplemental letter agreement” with Catalent that “addresses certain financial and operational matters” related to Elevidys. As part of the agreement, the companies “agreed to delay delivery of certain Elevidys batches until 2027 and beyond,” according to the filing.
Elsewhere, Catalent last month revealed its plan to pass out pink slips to 150 staffers as part of its plan to close a Belgium facility dubbed its “European Center of Excellence in cell therapy.” That move also came in response to a decline in production and demand.
The cuts come after Catalent sold itself to Novo Holdings in late 2024. The company has also debuted a new global headquarters in Tampa and unveiled its new corporate branding.