GreenLight Biosciences is pushing ahead with plans to shrink its head count. Shortly after the biotech put out news of a 51% reduction of its team, a notice in Massachusetts revealed 96 of the layoffs will happen at facilities in the state next month.
The Lexington, Massachusetts-based RNA specialist revealed plans to lay off employees late last month, one day after accepting a $45.5 million deal that will end a short stay on the public markets. At the time of the original layoff notice, the biotech said the cuts would affect “employees supporting programs which do not have anticipated short-term value creation events.”
A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act notice published by the Massachusetts state government provides more information, revealing that GreenLight is laying off 96 employees at the end of July. The biotech had 262 full-time employees as of mid-March, a figure that, viewed alongside the planned 51% reduction in head count, suggests that staff outside of Massachusetts may also be laid off as well.
GreenLight’s corporate headquarters and human health facilities are in Lexington. The company also has production facilities for RNA agricultural products in Rochester, New York. The fact that GreenLight’s layoffs target programs without short-term value creation events and, at least mostly, affect Massachusetts suggests the human health side of the business will suffer cuts.
The biotech began leasing 59,000 square feet in Lexington for human health R&D in May 2022, providing clean rooms for early-phase clinical material manufacturing. GreenLight also has 69,000 square feet of human health office and lab space in two other cities in Massachusetts, namely Medford and Woburn.
GreenLight’s human health work is further from the market than the agricultural projects. Published In March, the biotech’s annual report listed agricultural candidates in advanced development, including a product on course to win approval this year.
In contrast, GreenLight’s most advanced human health candidate was a COVID-19 vaccine that was set to move into phase 1/2 before the rise of omicron prompted a rethink. The biotech listed a shingles vaccine at the candidate selection stage as the next most advanced prospect.