Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. will cut about 370 jobs globally, including 175 in Massachusetts, because sales of Incivek—its hepatitis C drug—are declining faster than initially anticipated.
Affected employees are being told Tuesday at Vertex sites and field offices around the world that they are losing their jobs. The move will reduce the company’s workforce by about 17 percent worldwide and 11.8 percent in its home state. It is the first major round of layoffs in the past decade for Vertex, which has been one of the state’s fastest growing and highest profile biotechnology companies.
After the job reductions, Vertex will have about 1,800 employees worldwide, including 1,300 in the Boston area. But executives said they are still planning to go forward with a long-planned move from 11 buildings scattered across Cambridge to a new headquarters complex at Fan Pier on the South Boston waterfront—a process that will begin soon.