First-quarter biotech job picture

A quarterly snapshot of job expansions, reductions and availability in the biotech and pharma sectors.

The biotech industry’s presence in North Carolina continues to expand with the announcement in January of a 109-acre, mixed-use life sciences campus in Morrisville, part of the Research Triangle. The project, called Spark LS, will include 1.5 million square feet of lab and biomanufacturing space, a STEM education center, restaurants, retail and recreational areas. Additionally, contract development and manufacturing company Fujifilm Diosynth said it will double its existing laboratory footprint in North Carolina, adding 89,000 square feet and 145 skilled jobs by 2024. And Eli Lilly announced a $1 billion investment in a new manufacturing facility in Concord, North Carolina, creating up to 600 jobs.

BioNTech has added 200 jobs to its Marburg, Germany, manufacturing facility since 2020, and said it will add another 250 this year as demand for COVID-19 boosters remains high. The expansion will cost $56.5 million.

Moderna announced a plan to open four new subsidiaries, in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan, to expand its commercial network across Asia, adding to existing Asia-Pacific offices in South Korea, Japan and Australia. Job functions will include medical, regulatory, pricing, reimbursement, market access, government affairs and commercial operations.

In layoff news, Sanofi announced it would reduce its head count by 6,000 employees worldwide and trim its pipeline after overhauling its corporate structure and simplifying its brand. “We are embracing digital change, streamlining our portfolio, and collaborating with partners in geographies to balance or reduce infrastructure while improving access to our medicines,” CFO Jean-Baptiste Chasseloup de Chatillon said on the company’s quarterly investors call.

Finally, Biogen said it would eliminate up to 1,000 jobs in a bid to save about $500 million in the wake of the disappointing rollout of the company’s Alzheimer’s disease drug Aduhelm (aducanumab).