As part of a restructuring and cost reduction effort, Cambridge, Mass.-based Momenta Pharmaceuticals will slash its workforce in half and gut most of its leadership team, according to The Boston Globe.
The drugmaker also will shift its focus to developing novel drug candidates instead of producing generic versions of costly biotechnology drugs, known as biosimilars. The shift resulted from a strategic review of the company's operations.
"As a result of this decision, we are realigning our executive team structure and reducing our workforce, which includes right-sizing all areas within Momenta," Momenta's President and CEO Craig Wheeler told The Globe. "This was an extremely difficult decision, and I would like to personally thank all of the employees affected for their contributions over the past years."
The company will lay off 110 workers, and it expects to save $250 million over the next five years from the workforce reduction and elimination of the biosimilar development programs.
The layoffs will effectively overhaul its leadership team. The leaders leaving in the next month include:
Ganesh Kaundinya, PhD, COO and chief scientific officer; Scott Storer, senior vice president and CFO; Bruce Leicher, senior vice president and general counsel; James Anderson, PhD, senior vice president of pharmaceutical science; and Robert Ciappenelli, senior vice president and head of commercial operations.