Vir Biotechnology To Reduce Workforce By 12%, To Close 2 Research Facilities

(RTTNews) - Vir Biotechnology Inc. (VIR) Wednesday announced strategic initiatives to cut operating expenses, which include reducing workforce by about 12% and closing two research facilities.

R&D facilities in St. Louis, Missouri and Portland, Oregon will be closed in 2024. Research activities will continue at the company's sites in San Francisco, California and Bellinzona, Switzerland.

Approximately 12% or 75 positions will be eliminated, which includes reductions from the company's discontinuation of its innate immunity small molecule group which was initiated in the third quarter of 2023. The reductions will be substantially complete by the first quarter of 2024.

Vir expects to reduce its cost structure by at least $40 million annually. The company reported $1.7 billion in cash, cash equivalents and investments in the third quarter of 2023.

Vir is expecting charges of $30 million to $40 million related to facility closures and severance charges.

"After a thorough review and with a strong focus on our mission, we are making purpose-led changes to align Vir with our goals to deliver sustainable growth and ensure we are well-positioned for the future," Chief Executive Marianne De Backer said.

In the second quarter of 2024, Vir expects to report new clinical data from its ongoing Phase 2 trial evaluating its monoclonal antibody tobevibart and its siRNA elebsiran for the treatment of chronic hepatitis delta.