USA – Thermo Fisher Scientific plans to shutter its facility in Lexington as it also targets to cut a total of 160 jobs across three different viral vector facilities in Cambridge, Lexington and Plainville, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification alert filed in Massachusetts.
The layoff round is expected to kick off on Jan. 6 and could run through Nov. 6, 2026, NBC Boston reported, citing a detailed letter to the state that was shared with the Boston Business Journal.
In tandem with the staff reduction, Thermo Fisher also plans to shutter its facility in Lexington. All this is in a bid to streamline viral vector manufacturing.
As part of the plan, the life sciences giant aims to merge operations at the closing Lexington plant with its newer facility in Plainville, which debuted in 2022.
Thermo fisher originally invested $180 million in the 290,000-square-foot Plainville site, which was slated to employ 300 staffers at the time of opening.
The facility offers viral vector services from process development to commercial manufacturing, as well as fill and finish, according to Thermo Fisher’s website.
Thermo Fisher got its hands on the Lexington facility back in 2019 when it laid out $1.7 billion to acquire viral vector producer Brammer Bio.
Thermo Fisher picked up commercial-ready viral vector plants in Cambridge and Lexington plus a preclinical and clinical-stage site in Alachua, Florida, where the company laid off 205 staffers last summer.
“We have decided to expand operations in our Plainville, MA site to extend the benefits of the recently built state-of-the-art facility and center of excellence for viral vector development and manufacturing capabilities to more customers,” the company’s spokesperson explained.
Meanwhile, the Cambridge factory, boasts a “broad-range” of viral vector manufacturing process technologies, with multiple drug substance suites, an automated fill-finish system, quality control labs and process development space. The site is specifically designed to produce and test viral vectors for cell and gene therapies.
The most recent layoffs in Massachusetts follow Thermo Fisher’s announcement in April to eliminate 74 positions at its plasmid manufacturing lab located on its Carlsbad, California campus.
“There are times when we must adjust staffing levels to remain in line with current volume demands,” a Thermo Fisher spokesperson said at the time, noting that the company was unsure of its ultimate plan for the manufacturing lab.
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