CLEVELAND — More than 200 employees at a Bedford pharmaceutical manufacturing plant will permanently lose their jobs after Xellia Pharmaceuticals solid a portion of its assets to a British multinational firm.
Xellia Pharmaceuticals USA, the American arm of the Danish drug ingredient manufacturer, said in a WARN notice to government officials that its sale of the Bedford plant to Hikma Pharmaceuticals will eliminate 214 jobs in Northeast Ohio and 33 others in the United States.
According to 3News media partners Cleveland.com, Hikma plans to overhaul the plant and have it ready for automation within two to three years.
According to the WARN notice, layoffs will begin in late August, with most of the rest of the employees being cut by the end of October and a few director-level employees staying through December 31.
The Bedford plant, located at 200 Northfield Road, is the former home of Ben Venue Laboratories, which was the city's largest employer when it folded in 2014. According to Cleveland.com, Hikma bought the plant after Ben Venue shut down but did not use it and sold it to Xellia in 2015.
The sale process represents the second mass layoff at Xellia's Bedford facility this year. 80 employees had their jobs cut in February, documents show.