Apel­lis trims staff, shrinks R&D plans to save mon­ey in face of loom­ing com­pe­ti­tion in oph­thal­mol­o­gy

Apel­lis Phar­ma­ceu­ti­cals is in cash-sav­ing mode as it looks to ward off a new­ly-mint­ed com­peti­tor in treat­ing a lead­ing cause of blind­ness.

The drug­mak­er said Mon­day morn­ing it will lay off about 225 em­ploy­ees — ac­count­ing for 25% of its cur­rent work­force — shrink ex­ter­nal ex­pens­es and slim down its R&D. The Boston-area biotech ex­pects to save $300 mil­lion through next year, and it char­ac­ter­ized the trim­mings as a path to se­cur­ing Apel­lis’ “long-term suc­cess.”

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