A laboratory testing company headquartered in New Jersey is shrinking its workforce as Labcorp prepares to take over some of its business.
BioReference Health, part of OPKO Health, a multinational biopharmaceutical and diagnostics company, is dismissing 69 employees from its Elmwood Park headquarters, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filing with the state.
The layoffs commenced July 14 and will conclude on Sept. 15 — the date Labcorp is expected to finalize an agreement to acquire select assets of BioReference’s oncology and clinical testing services.
The agreement was initially announced by Labcorp and OPKO back in March, but both parties said it would take months to close the deal.
The assets being acquired currently generate up to $100 million annually and Labcorp is paying $237.5 million to buy them, according to a press release.
“By integrating BioReference Health’s oncology and related clinical testing services into our portfolio, we’re providing greater access to our world-class services to patients, physicians and healthcare providers across the country,” said Mark Schroeder, Labcorp’s executive vice president and president, in a statement.
OPKO Chairman and CEO Phillip Frost said the transaction “represents another important step for OPKO Health to further streamline BioReference Health’s operations to achieve profitability,” according to a company press release.
At the time, Frost said BioReference would maintain its core clinical testing services in the New York and New Jersey region.
Neither BioReference nor it’s parent company OPKO responded immediately Tuesday to requests for comment.
The latest round of job cuts follow a layoff action affecting 81 employees earlier this year.
BioReference operates 10 laboratory facilities around the country, is in-network with some of the largest health plans in the United States, serving over 19 million patients annually, according to its website.
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Jackie Roman may be reached at [email protected].
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