DUNKIRK, N.Y. (WKBW) — Layoffs are coming for nearly 40 employees at ImmunityBio, a late-clinical-stage immunotherapy company in Dunkirk.
According to a WARN notice filed on September 29, the facility placed 38 employees on inactive status and their employment will be terminated as of December 28. The notice says the reason for the layoffs is "economic."
In January, ImmunityBio entered into an agreement with Athenex to assume the lease of Athenex's manufacturing facility in Dunkirk and certain related assets. As part of the agreement, the previous obligations that ImmunityBio took on included the creation of 450 direct jobs and a $1.52 billion investment over ten years. In a release announcing the agreement, ImmunityBio said it planned to further invest in the facility and anticipated it would begin producing COVID vaccine drug substance in the fourth quarter of 2022.
As part of the former Buffalo Billion investment, New York State originally entered into an agreement with Athenex to manufacture cancer drugs.
