By Richard Sullins | richard@rantnc.com

Pfizer has informed the North Carolina Department of Commerce that it intends to close selected manufacturing lines at two of its locations in the state, Sanford and Rocky Mount, with hundreds of workers being laid off as a result.

The company said in a press release that some of these layoffs have already begun, with some workers having their jobs ending on July 31. The remainder of the job closures will take place at the end of September. The impact will be the loss of 150 jobs at the huge Sanford facility and another 60 jobs ending at the company’s Rocky Mount operation.

Pfizer currently employs about 2,000 workers at its Sanford facility.

The layoffs come as part of a multi-year program within the company to reduce operating costs. In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in May, Pfizer said the layoffs are expected to save the company $1.5 billion by the end of 2027.

The legalese of the filing also said the layoffs are part of an overall effort that will also include “operational efficiencies, network structure changes, and product portfolio enhancements.” The press release went further, saying Pfizer is discontinuing its large volume solutions business and instead shifting production to a contract manufacturing organization.

The layoffs in Sanford follow the failure of its gene therapy drug Ciffreo in clinical trials for the treatment of Duchene Muscular Dystrophy, a rare genetic condition that results in progressive muscle degeneration and weakness.

The drug failed in a Phase 3 study, with the company saying that it didn’t improve motor function in boys between the ages of 4 and 7 who received the treatment, and there was no difference between those who took the drug versus those who received a placebo.

Ciffreo also failed in a secondary test, one that didn’t show a significant difference between patients who received either the therapy or a placebo when essential secondary endpoints were reached, “including 10-meter run/walk velocity and time to rise from floor velocity.”

Pfizer shut down two facilities last year in Morrisville and Durham due to similar conditions. The Durham plant had manufactured supplies in support of the company’s gene therapy and biologics collection of products and services.

The company has made Sanford an important part of its gene therapy strategies, investing more than $600 million dollars over the past several years in its facilities here. The company built out its site just outside the northern edge of the city to support commercial production of its gene therapy assets, including Beqvez, which in April became the company’s first gene therapy to receive approval in the US.

Beqvez is a treatment for the rare genetic bleeding disorder Hemophilia B, and the company announced in late July positive Phase 3 results for another gene therapy program targeting Hemophilia A, a different rare genetic bleeding disorder that prevents normal blood clotting.