7 months after last layoffs, Bay Area biotech giant Gilead does another round

Only seven months after its last major round of Bay Arealayoffs, biotech company Gilead Sciences is laying off 108 workers from its Redwood City offices. 

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Last Thursday, Gilead Sciences, best known for its COVID-19 and HIV treatments, filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification with the California Employment Development Department. The notice covers an extensive period, as employees will lose their jobs between June 30 and April 30, 2027. The company laid off 104 Bay Area workers in November. 

Positions in manufacturing, quality assurance, marketing/sales and clinical development are taking the brunt of the hit. But those cuts include upper-level leadership and midlevel management positions. Twelve senior directors and 11 vice presidents are losing their jobs. 

The biotech company also let go of 84 employees in Rockville, Maryland, according to the state’s Department of Labor. And on March 27, 34 employees lost their jobs at the company’s Oceanside campus, according to a separate WARN.

“As part of the integration following the close of the Arcellx transaction, we’ve begun communicating with affected employees in accordance with required processes,” Gilead Sciences spokesperson Elizabeth Baxter told SFGATE in an email. “These decisions are never taken lightly, and our focus is on supporting employees through this transition with transparency and respect.”

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On April 28, two days before filing the WARN for the Bay Area layoffs, Gilead Sciences completed its acquisition of Redwood City-headquartered biotech company Arcellx Inc., known for its cell therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Gilead Sciences paid around $7.8 billion for its approximately 77% share of the company. 

“With the Arcellx acquisition, our focus turns to executing with speed and discipline as we prepare to bring anito-cel to patients,” Cindy Perettie, executive vice president and global head of Kite Pharma — another Gilead-owned company — said in a statement.

Biotech has been on a steady decline in the Bay Area and California. Following an influx of investor funding during the pandemic, the industry over the past few years has been racked with mass layoffs, slashed drug pipelines and bankruptcies, as SFGATE has previously reported. Pfizer, which developed a COVID-19 vaccine, abandoned its South San Francisco office.

This news story has been updated.