Astellas is preparing to close the Seattle site of its stem cell therapy unit, with around 55 employees set to be impacted.
The Japanese pharma inherited the site when it acquired Seattle-based Universal Cells in a $102.5 million deal back in 2018. The prize for Astellas was to secure the biotech’s Universal Donor Cell tech, which is used to create cell therapy products that do not require human leukocyte antigen matching, which in principle can avoid patients’ bodies rejecting donor stem cells.
Universal had made the case that its technology—unlike nuclease-based genome editing—does not require a DNA strand break, does not produce off-target alterations to the genome, avoids unwanted mutations at the target site and does not introduce foreign nuclease genes.
But Astellas is now closing down the legacy Universal Cells site in Seattle, the company confirmed to Fierce. About 55 employees will be impacted, although the transition away from the site will take two years, with final closure expected by April 2028.
The decision is part of a wider move to consolidate the pharma’s cell and gene therapy and its oncology research in its existing sites in Westborough, Massachusetts, and South San Francisco, California.
According to a letter sent by Astellas to Washington’s state employment agency, only a “handful” of affected Seattle employees will be relocated to these offices, with the remainder set to lose their jobs. The first wave of layoffs will begin in July, according to the letter.
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Astellas insisted that the company remains “firmly committed to advancing our research pipeline and the development of Universal Donor Cell technology for its potential to transform the lives of patients.”
“This decision is part of our efforts to align our R&D organization for long-term sustainability by being more efficient in our research footprint, strengthening scientific collaboration, concentrating critical capabilities, and ensuring our research platforms remain competitive, scalable, and positioned for long-term impact,” the company said in a statement.
It’s not the first time that Astellas’ Universal Cells workforce has been slimmed down. Back in 2024, the pharma unveiled plans to open a second location for the subsidiary in Japan. As part of that move, 24 roles in Seattle were due to be eliminated.
