French vaccine developer Valneva is closing down a site that houses both operational and R&D work, impacting 30 employee roles.
The biopharma is shuttering its location in Nantes, a spot that hosts certain undisclosed preclinical R&D activities, according to a Nov. 26 release. Going forward, all French operations will be consolidated at Valneva’s Lyon location, while all R&D work will take place at the biopharma’s site in Vienna.
No preclinical programs are being discontinued, a Valneva spokesperson told Fierce Biotech.
Thirty of 39 positions at the Nantes site will be eliminated, with R&D roles primarily impacted, the spokesperson said.
Valneva is “committed to supporting employees throughout this transition and providing assistance to ensure a smooth process for all impacted team members,” the company said in the announcement.
High fixed infrastructure costs in Nantes, overlapping R&D activities with the company’s Vienna site and a lack of revenue generated in Nantes all contributed to the decision, the spokesperson explained.
The move is part of ongoing efforts to boost operational effectiveness and set the company up for long-term success, the representative added.
Earlier in the day, the biopharma dropped a full dataset from a phase 2 study of a Lyme disease vaccine candidate that is being developed with U.S. pharma Pfizer. The readout demonstrated a robust secondary immune response and a favorable safety profile across all age groups. The data cut was taken six months after a third booster dose was administered.
Pfizer is currently running a late-stage trial for the partnered vaccine, with results expected in the first half of next year. The companies are expecting to file for regulatory approval in the U.S. and Europe next year if the phase 3 trial supports the move.
Since market open, the biopharma’s stock has risen 7.6%, rising from $8.72 per share to $9.38 as of 12:15 p.m. ET.
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The Nantes closure announcement comes less than six months after the FDA banned the use of Valneva’s chikungunya vaccine, Ixchiq, in the U.S.
In August, the regulator suspended Valneva’s license “based on serious safety concerns,” citing 21 hospitalizations and three deaths in older adults, including one death from encephalitis directly attributed to the live-attenuated vaccine.
“The temporary suspension of the Ixchiq license in the U.S. has added pressure on our mid-term revenues and therefore on our R&D investment capacity, but the decision is mainly driven by the need to streamline our R&D footprint and position the company for long-term success,” the Valneva spokesperson told Fierce about today’s site closure.
Currently, Valneva touts two other commercial vaccines beyond Ixchiq: Ixiaro or Jespect for Japanese encephalitis and Dukoral for cholera.