Alexion Restructuring, Moving Headquarters to Boston

Alexion Pharmaceuticals has announced an operational plan to “re-align the global organization with its refocused corporate strategy.” The plan is expected to save approximately $270 million by 2019 and will reduce the Alexion’s global workforce by approximately 20 percent. The restructuring includes the closing of multiple Alexion sites, including the Alexion Rhode Island manufacturing facility.

“By streamlining our operations we will create a leaner organization with greater financial flexibility that is highly focused on delivering for patients, growing our rare disease business, and both leveraging our leadership in complement and pursuing disciplined business development to expand the pipeline,” said Ludwig Hantson, Chief Executive Officer of Alexion.

As part of these initiatives, Alexion plans to relocate its headquarters to Boston by mid-2018, with plans for approximately 400 positions in Boston. As the Company reorganizes to deliver on its re-focused strategy, Boston will provide access to a larger biopharmaceutical talent pool and a variety of life-sciences partners to further support future growth initiatives.

“Alexion’s 25 year history began in New Haven, and Connecticut remains a critical part of our future. We value our relationship with the state of Connecticut, and our New Haven-based research team is critical to growing and strengthening Alexion’s leadership in complement, which will allow us to fulfill our mission of serving patients and families with rare and ultra-rare diseases,” said Hantson.

New Haven will be the Company’s Center of Excellence for its world-class complement research and process development teams, which are dedicated to advancing Alexion’s innovation engine. Approximately 450 positions will be based in New Haven, including employees working in the research and process development laboratories, the clinical supply and quality teams, nurse case management and a number of important enterprise business services.

Alexion is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and delivering life-transforming therapies for patients with devastating and rare disorders. Alexion is the global leader in complement inhibition and has developed and commercializes the first and only approved complement inhibitor to treat patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS), and refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG). In addition, Alexion has two highly innovative enzyme replacement therapies for patients with life-threatening and ultra-rare metabolic disorders, hypophosphatasia (HPP) and lysosomal acid lipase deficiency (LAL-D). As the leader in complement biology for over 20 years, Alexion focuses its research efforts on novel molecules and targets in the complement cascade, and its development efforts on the core therapeutic areas of hematology, nephrology, neurology, and metabolic disorders. (Source: Alexion Website, 12 September, 2017)