The news follows venture capital firm Third Rock Ventures plans to launch a start-up genomic search engine named Warp Drive Bio, with the help of $125m (€98m) in initial funding from Sanofi.
A New Jersey research lab is one of the firm’s assets due for the chop, but the firm has not yet confirmed the exact staffing cuts.
CEO Chris Viehbacher did however reveal that 50 per cent of drug development activities will be developed with partners – a 20 per cent increase from current outsourcing figures.
“It’s not a budget. I am pretty happy with the shape of the company. All we want to do is continue to look for opportunities, particularly in emerging markets,” he told Bloomberg.
He added that the company is looking for growth opportunities in developing markets that “aren’t everybody’s focus.”