Job cuts at Allergan and Transgene

Biotech firms Allergan and Transgene are both shuttering manufacturing facilities and laying off hundreds of staff. Allergan is closing a site in Iceland that was part of Actavis before the firms merged and took Allergan’s name. This will result in around 300 staff redundancies, although the firm will retain its other corporate and R&D functions in Iceland, comprising around 400 staff. Products made by the Icelandic plant will be redistributed to other facilities as it winds down between the end of 2016 and middle of 2017.

French firm Transgene is shutting its stand-alone pharmaceutical development and bio-manufacturing facility near Strasbourg. Transgene will outsource manufacturing as it refocuses on clinical trials of its cancer vaccine. Since Novartis decided not to proceed with a co-development deal, the firm is pursuing Phase III trials on its own.  The closure will affect about 120 of the company’s staff of around 283. French labour law requires the firm to assist employees in finding new jobs, and Transgene is negotiating a deal with a US subsidiary of its parent organisation, Institut Mérieux.