A debt-ridden international diabetes care firm that received FDA approval for its first wearable insulin supply system in the summertime will lay off greater than 100 staff at its Massachusetts facility whereas eliminating the costly product.
Embecta, headquartered in New Jersey, filed a Employee Adjustment and Retraining Notification with the MassHire Division of Profession Providers in late November, alerting the state that it might be shedding 118 staff at its Andover facility.
On the identical day the state obtained the notification, firm CEO Devdatt “Dev” Kurdikar introduced that the pricey patch pump program can be discontinued as “part of a broader restructuring,” Fierce Biotech, an trade insider, has reported.
Throughout its 2024 fiscal yr, the corporate spent roughly $63 million to develop the patch pump. The wearable, absolutely disposable system offered adjustable basal and bolus insulin for as much as three days for folks with Sort 1 or Sort 2 diabetes.
Firm officers mentioned that eliminating the product, which obtained FDA clearance in September, from its enterprise mannequin whereas reducing its headcount in Andover is anticipated to avoid wasting the corporate round $60 million to $65 million.
Fierce Biotech additionally reported that the corporate is seeking to repay its greater than $1.6 billion in debt.
The corporate has not confirmed whether or not the lowered workers is “directly related to the halting of the patch pump program,” trade insider Drug Supply Business Information reported on Thursday.
In line with the discover filed with the state, layoffs on the Andover facility are anticipated to happen between Feb. 3, 2025, and Aug. 1, 2025.
“Following the recent U.S. FDA clearance that we received on the open-loop version of the pump that could be used by people with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, the decision to cease the pump program may come as a surprise,” Kurdikar mentioned throughout an traders’ name on Nov. 26.
“However, it is important to understand that we did not intend to do a full-market launch of this product,” he added, “as the open-loop product currently cleared requires additional enhancements to be commercially competitive—including extensions of the product’s shelf-life, as well as enhancements in the form of making the device compatible from a ‘bring-your-own-device’ perspective.”
