BioMarin Cuts 120 People from Workforce, Focuses Resources on Potential U.S. Gene Therapy Launch

BioMarin Pharmaceutical said it has redesigned its organization to better focus investments that advance its R&D pipeline, maximize recent commercial launch success, prepare for a potential launch of its hemophilia gene therapy in the United States, and drive core infrastructure optimization.

Photo: Jean-Jacques Bienaimé, chairman and CEO of BioMarin

The company says the redesign simplifies the organization, creates efficiencies, reduces the average management layers across the organization and prioritizes and heightens the capabilities required to achieve critical business needs of the future. As a result, this decision will involve a reduction in force of approximately 120 employees, or roughly 4 percent of the global workforce.

Over more than two decades of focusing on genetics and molecular biology, BioMarin has rapid discovered, developed, and commercialized eight approved therapies, mostly in ultra-rare diseases. Having successfully evolved the pipeline to treat larger genetic conditions, including BioMarin’s recent successful global launch of Voxzogo and the European approval of Roctavian, the company has transitioned into a leading, large-scale global biopharmaceutical company.

“Change is necessary to fulfill our commitment to operating the business in the best interest of our patients, shareholders, and other stakeholders. This requires that our organization is the right size, has the right structure, and has the right focus to operate with maximum effectiveness and efficiency,” said Jean-Jacques Bienaimé, chairman and CEO of BioMarin. “This change allows us to continue building upon our core strength in genetic discovery to have a transformative impact on the lives of even more patients.”

While the focus of the effort was reshaping the organization for operational effectiveness and efficiency, the reduction in force will result in financial savings of approximately $50 million annually beginning in 2023. Management expects to reinvest a significant portion of the savings in BioMarin’s clinical development portfolio, early-stage pipeline, and Roctavian and Voxzogo launches, while the remainder will contribute to the company’s goal of increasing profitability and expanding operating margins.

Impacted employees have been notified as of the first week of October, and they have begun the transition process. Most of the reduction will come from BioMarin’s U.S. operations and the reductions are expected to be substantially completed by December 31, 2022. As a result of the reduction in force, the company will incur total estimated pre-tax charges of approximately $20 million to $25 million spread across the third and fourth quarters of 2022, representing one-time cash expenditures for severance and employee termination benefits.

Author: Rare Daily Staff