Here’s another dose of bad news for Seattle’s biotech industry.
Novo Nordisk this week announced plans to discontinue R&D efforts related to inflammatory disorders, a move that will cost about 400 people their jobs. Sixty three people in Seattle are getting cut as a result of the decision, with the company also announcing plans to shutter its inflammation research center, according to The Seattle Times.
Novo Nordisk said it is discontinuing its anti-IL-20 for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, focusing instead on its treatments for diabetes.
“The discontinuation of anti-IL-20 delays our earliest possible entrance into the market for anti inflammatory therapeutics to the late 2020s,” said Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, executive vice president and chief science officer of Novo Nordisk. “Significant unmet opportunities remain within diabetes, including prevention, obesity and diabetes complications. We have therefore decided to further increase our R&D efforts within diabetes which is our main business area.”
The news comes a few weeks after Amgen announced plans to close its massive R&D facility in Seattle, a move that will put about 660 people out of work in the region. It also comes on the heels of announcement by Bristol-Myers Squibb to stop supporting Alder BioPharma’s drug candidate, which also happens to be in the rheumatoid arthritis arena.
Denmark-based Novo Nordisk employs about 40,000 people worldwide. It acquired Seattle-based ZymoGenetics in 1988. It later spun off into a public company and then was acquired again in 2010 by Bristol-Myers Squibb.
