Roche’s reorganization of Spark Therapeutics is coming more into focus, with nearly 300 employees being let go by the end of this year. Spark also trimmed its staff in 2024.
In a reorganization first divulged in January, Philadelphia-based Spark Therapeutics, Roche’s gene therapy subsidiary, is letting go of 298 employees in Philadelphia. The cuts will come in three waves starting May 9 and ending Dec. 31, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notice.
With the move, Spark is potentially halving its staff. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the biotech is cutting 337 employees total, “more than half its workforce.” In addition to the layoffs, a Spark spokesperson told the newspaper that 310 employees will be integrated into its parent company Roche but will remain in Philadelphia.
In its January financial report, Roche noted that the reorganization would involve integrating some of the biotech’s operations into the Swiss pharma’s broader pharmaceutical division. Roche estimated restructuring costs at about $341 million.
The reorganization came after the pharma’s strategic review of the biotech’s prospects. Roche bought Spark for $4.8 billion in 2019 to beef up its gene therapy portfolio, and since then, two Spark gene therapy assets at the heart of the deal have faced challenges. The FDA-approved Luxturna, indicated for a rare and heritable form of blindness, in 2024 had a 59% year-over-year sales decline. Investigational treatment SPK-8011, which in 2018 had a 97% response rate for hemophilia A, was shelved in December 2024, according to Spark’s federal clinical trials page.
Spark is still researching eye, liver and neurodegenerative diseases, according to the company’s website. The biotech also lists the immune system, targeted gene therapy deliveries and enabling technologies to optimize delivery and potentially expand access for eligible patient populations as areas of interest.
This year’s layoffs are not the first for Spark. The biotech also had a workforce reduction in July 2024, Endpoints News reported, noting the company had discontinued several early-stage programs. The number of employees let go at that time was not revealed. A spokesperson told the publication that Spark was pivoting its strategy to “accelerate its pipeline and help bring more therapies to patients sooner,” but that part of the move would include organizational changes.
