CareFusion, a San Diego company that produces health care tools and technology, is relocating its San Diego manufacturing operations to Tijuana, in addition to conducting some layoffs. Together, the two moves will impact about 180 local jobs.
The Sorrento Valley-based company is a subsidiary of New Jersey’s medical technology giant BD, or Becton Dickinson and Company. BD acquired CareFusion in 2014 for $12.2 billion.
One of the factors driving CareFusion’s decision to move its manufacturing operations south of the border is it has outgrown its San Diego site and can better meet its production needs at the newer Tijuana facility.
By early next year, the company will have completely relocated 91 manufacturing jobs associated with its medication management solutions (MMS) division. After that, the MMS infusion manufacturing, engineering and quality functions will no longer operate at 10020 Pacific Mesa Blvd.
These jobs are part of BD’s top revenue-driving business segment, BD Medical. One product of the BD unit are infusion pumps and syringes for IV drips in hospitals.
A company spokesperson said that in order to meet the demand for its BD Alaris Infusion System, over the past year it “conducted a thorough analysis of our manufacturing network to consider how to create capacity and continue to meet the needs of our customers.”
The BD Alaris pump was updated and cleared by the FDA last year following recalls that required the company to fix or replace older versions of the device on the market.
“In early 2024, BD began transitioning some infusion manufacturing activities from San Diego to our 170,000 sq. ft. facility in Tijuana and began conducting dual manufacturing of infusion products in both locations this summer,” the company spokesperson wrote in an email to the Union-Tribune.
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The BD spokesperson added that “non-manufacturing roles associated with the manufacturing site in San Diego are not impacted by this change in operations.”
“BD has been a leader in leveraging the cross-border efficiencies in the Tijuana-San Diego region,” the spokesperson said. “With approximately 900 employees, the Tijuana facility, which opened in 2022, is one of our largest manufacturing locations. There are economies of scale BD can tap into at this state-of-the-art facility that weren’t available with the significantly smaller footprint of our San Diego manufacturing location.”
In addition to the relocation move, CareFusion is cutting its headcount by 92 positions at its facility at 3750 Torrey View Court, according to a WARN notice filed with the state. The first layoffs were initiated on Sept. 10 and will continue on a rolling basis until the end of this year, the company said.
This comes on the heels of another job cut in August, where CareFusion laid off 117 local workers in its medication management solutions business to improve operational efficiency.
BD reiterated its commitment to the San Diego region, noting that its local workforce of roughly 3,800 people encompasses the second largest population of BD employees outside of its headquarters in Franklin Lakes, NJ. Overall, BD has a global workforce of approximately 73,000 people, as of Sept. 30.
QuidelOrtho gets a new R&D leader
Local diagnostics company, QuidelOrtho, has a new chief technology officer to lead the company’s innovation efforts.
The company announced Jonathan Siegrist, Ph.D. will be joining the C-suite and taking on the role of executive vice president of research and development. He succeeds senior vice president of R&D, Werner Kroll, who is retiring next year.
Siegrist most recently served as CTO and head of R&D at Cepheid, a Silicon Valley-based test maker. He also has about 15 years of industry experience and previously co-founded a diagnostics manufacturing company.
Crinetics raises $575 million
Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has raised $575 million – exceeding its goal – through a public sale of its common stock.
The local company initially set a goal to raise $460 million, but due to investor interest closed its public offering on Oct. 10 and sold its stock for $50 per share.
The upsized funding, which was first reported by the San Diego Business Journal, will be used to support Crinetics’ operations and the development of novel therapies for endocrine diseases.
Poseida hits milestone in Roche CAR-T collab
Local biotech, Poseida Therapeutics has hit a $15 million milestone payment in its collaboration with global health care company, Roche.
This stems from a new CAR-T therapy candidate the two are developing that targets blood cancers, including multiple myeloma. Poseida is working on cell therapy and genetic medicine treatments for cancer, autoimmune and rare diseases.
The partnership with Roche began in 2022 and now encompasses three programs in development. Poseida received an upfront $110 million payment for the collaboration agreement, with the possibility of additional payouts for future milestones and royalties.