Established five years ago as a first-of-its-kind manufacturer dedicated to broadening access to medicines and protecting biopharma supply chains against disruption, National Resilience is struggling to live up to its ambitious mission statement.
Monday, in a letter to its customers from CEO William Marth, Resilience revealed that it was consolidating its business by closing several of its facilities that are “not being fully utilized.”
A company spokesperson confirmed that Resilience is shutting down operations at six sites, including three in Massachusetts. The other facilities are in San Diego and Freemont in California and Alachua, Florida.
The plants are being closed through a legal procedure initiated by a “leaseholder affiliate,” Resilience said in its note to customers. The bankruptcy applies only to the six closed sites, the company said.
“It has become clear that our capacity expansion has outpaced industry demand,” Marth wrote, adding that the company will carry on with a “streamlined footprint.”
The company spokesperson said Resilience’s manufacturing operations will continue in Toronto, Philadelphia, North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park and Cincinnati, where the CDMO will be anchored.
A group of investors has provided $250 million in “bridge financing” to support the consolidation, Resilience said, adding that it also is seeking debt financing to fuel its future growth plans.
There were recent indications that Resilience was struggling. In December of last year, it announced the departure of CEO Rahul Singhvi and the appointment of Teva and Curia veteran Marth. In the same week, Resilience cut 105 roles at its site in Florida, which it acquired in 2021 with its buyout of Ology Bioservices.
Then, in January of this year, Resilience laid off 120 at its facility in North Carolina, which it gained for $110 million as part of a 2021 partnership with gene therapy specialist bluebird bio.
Resilience launched as a startup in November 2020 thanks to an $800 million investment and a goal to become the “world's most advanced biopharmaceutical manufacturing ecosystem.” By the end of 2021, Resilience had drawn additional investment rounds of $625 million and $600 million. In 2023, the company secured a $410 million loan from the Department of Defense.
But Resilience and its investors misjudged the trajectory of the biotech and CDMO industries, despite drawing lucrative contracts from major companies such as Takeda and AstraZeneca.
Resilience currently produces in-demand obesity and diabetes drugs for an unnamed client, which is an example of the kind of manufacturing deals the company will now pursue.
“Most recently, we have determined that the best use of our expertise, resources, and talent is to focus on high-growth segments to advance cell-based medicines, primarily biologics, and aseptic drug product operations,” Marth wrote.