Layoffs in Orange County: Allergan cutting 109; Peregrine Pharmaceuticals to chop R&D team in half; Universal Alloy cutting 149
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Allergan is laying off 109 employees in Irvine, effective Oct. 23, according to notices filed with the state. (Paul E. Rodriguez / The Orange County Register)
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By HANNAH MADANS | hmadans@scng.com | Orange County Register
PUBLISHED: August 28, 2017 at 3:26 pm | UPDATED: August 28, 2017 at 4:25 pm
Worker adjustment notifications filed with the state in late August showed hundreds of layoffs are looming in Orange County, including cuts at Allergan, Peregrine Pharmaceuticals and Universal Alloy.
Allergan is laying off 109 employees in Irvine, effective Oct. 23, according to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN.
The company, which is based in Dublin, Ireland, also has offices in New Jersey.
Allergan did not immediately return requests for comment.
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The biotech firm was based in Irvine until it was acquired for roughly $70 billion by Actavis in 2015. The company still has eyecare and aesthetics medicine operations, such as Botox, in Orange County.
In May, the company received Food and Drug Administration approval to market its TrueTear Intranasal Tear Neurostimular. The device increases tear production using electrical stimulation.
Allergan reported total net revenues during the second quarter of $4 billion, a 9 percent increase from the prior year.
The Allergan news coincided with other significant layoffs in the county.
Peregrine Pharmaceuticals in Tustin said it would lay off 60 employees, effective Oct. 9.
In a press release, the company said the number amounted to a 20 percent reduction in its workforce. The company called the move “part of its series of planned strategic actions to reduce costs and better position the company to achieve overall profitability while it pursues strategic options for its research and development (R&D) assets.”
The layoffs will result in net cost savings of $3.7 million to $4.3 million in fiscal-year 2018.
The group’s research and development team is being reduced by 50 percent to 11 employees.
“While this was a difficult decision, our board and management team believe it was a necessary step as we continue to evaluate strategic options to further strengthen our two distinct businesses and seek to maximize shareholder value,” Steven King, president, chief executive officer and director of Peregrine and president of Avid Bioservices, said in a statement. “I would like to personally express my appreciation to the affected employees for their commitment and meaningful contributions to the Peregrine and Avid businesses. We remain committed to capitalizing on long-term opportunities available to our CDMO business and pursuing the best path forward for our R&D business.”
Peregrine Pharmaceuticals focuses on “developing therapeutics to stimulate the body’s immune system to fight cancer,” according to its website.
Universal Alloy Corp. in Anaheim will let go of 149 employees, effective Oct. 1, according to documents filed with the state.
The company did not immediately return requests for comment.
Universal Alloy has more than 1,200 employees in Anaheim, Canton, Ga., and Romania.
The aircraft metals manufacturer in 2014 agreed to pay up to $4.75 million in a class-action lawsuit brought in a California federal court by workers who said the company deprived them of overtime and minimum wage payments, according to Law 360. The manufacturer agreed to resolve the claims at its California, Georgia and Kansas manufacturing facilities in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The company was acquired by Montana Tech Components in 2006.
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