Gilead’s layoffs include 72 employees at its Seattle location, which will close. Kite will shut down its Philadelphia facility. The layoffs are attributed to aligning resources with long-term strategic goals.
Gilead Sciences and subsidiary Kite Pharma are laying off employees, including 72 people effective Jan. 17 at Gilead’s Seattle location, which will close, according to a Nov. 13 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice. That site focuses on the Foster City, California–based biopharma’s research and clinical development activities.
In addition, Fierce Biotech reported that Santa Monica, California–based Kite Pharma, which focuses on cell therapy to treat and cure cancer, will close its Philadelphia facility by the middle of 2024.
A Gilead spokesperson confirmed Gilead and Kite’s layoffs to BioSpace Nov. 14 while also noting that employees whose roles are eliminated can apply for other positions. The spokesperson did not specify the number of employees affected.
Kite’s workforce also took a hit about a year ago. At that time, a Gilead spokesperson confirmed to Fierce Biotech it was cutting about 7% of the cell therapy company’s workforce. However, the spokesperson also noted 90 roles better aligned with the organization’s focus were being created, resulting in a net impact of about 5%. The cuts were part of a “refreshed business strategy” to better align Kite’s strategic priorities, according to a staff letter Fierce obtained.
Regarding the latest layoffs, a Gilead spokesperson told BioSpace via email that the business is making changes to further align resources with long-term strategic goals, which includes relocating some teams.
“Our focus remains on prioritizing resources as we prepare for six potential new launches by the end of 2030 beginning with lenacapavir for HIV prevention in 2025,” the spokesperson said.
Lenacapavir is an HIV-1 capsid inhibitor that works by inhibiting various steps of the virus’ life cycle. It received FDA approval in December 2022 as a twice-yearly treatment option for patients with multidrug-resistance HIV. During a Nov. 6 investor call, Gilead CEO Daniel O’Day announced the company expects to file an application by the end of 2024 seeking FDA approval for twice-yearly subcutaneous pre-exposure prophylaxis lenacapavir.
In financial news, Gilead recently announced that its third-quarter product sales grew 7% to $7.5 billion year over year. However, cell therapy product sales of $485 million were “relatively flat.” Kite’s Yescarta sales dipped 1% to $387 million and Kite’s Tecartus sales went up just 2% to $98 million.
