Covance ($CVD) will close its $100 million Chandler, AZ, laboratory by year's end, a Covance spokeswoman tells FierceCRO, meaning the loss of 130 jobs.
The CRO's decision to close the facility is due to dwindling demand for early development and toxicological work, said spokeswoman Melissa Thompson. Chandler employees are encouraged to apply for positions at other Covance sites, but the CRO says it will assist them with job transitions any way possible. As for projects at Chandler and the animals housed there for research purposes, they will be redirected to other Covance labs, Thompson added.
While Covance and its supporters are upset about the closure, others are rejoicing. Since opening the facility in 2009, Covance hasn't been welcomed by everybody in the region, as a story from The Arizona Republic details a controversial history, specifically when it comes to animal rights concerns and what some call unrealized jobs. As FierceBiotech reported three years ago, Covance expected to generate 500 jobs at the site, while the grass-roots organization Citizens Against Covance argues that it promised to bring upward of 2,000.
"When Covance moves out of the site where so much toxicity testing was performed, we wonder what will be left behind," said Jan McClellan, spokeswoman for Citizens Against Covance, to FierceCRO. "We do know they will be leaving behind their jobless employees which were supposed to be 2,000, but in reality are only 133."
- read more from The Arizona Republic