Australian biopharma Clinuvel to shed up to 20% of workforce in move to US

Biotech Australian biopharma Clinuvel to shed up to 20% of workforce in move to US By James Waldron Jul 23, 2026 5:47am Australia layoffs vitiligo Australian biopharma Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals is moving its headquarters to the U.S.— but up to a fifth of the company’s workforce won’t be staying for the trans-pacific pivot. The Melbourne-based company started trading on the Nasdaq this week in addition to its original listing on the Australian Securities Exchange. But Clinuvel explained that it wants to make this U.S. focus more permanent with a move of its corporate headquarters to the states from Jan.1, 2027. "We have long contemplated a U.S. listing and concluded that the company has reached a stage of maturity sufficient to attract the attention of U.S. investors,” Clinuvel’s Chief Operating Officer Lachlan Hay explained in a July 23 release. “Based on feedback from recent non-deal roadshows, Clinuvel's profile is seen as distinct from many U.S. biopharmaceuticals, while many U.S. investors expressed a preference to invest in U.S.-focused and listed companies,” Hay added. “Since our future operations will be centred in the United States, we are now positioning the business functions for these next phases.” U.S.-listed specialty pharma companies with “comparable revenue and pipeline profiles” are typically trading at “materially higher enterprise value-to-revenue multiples” when compared to their ASX-listed counterparts, Clinuvel pointed out in the release. “The restructuring is a prerequisite to unlocking deeper, more liquid capital pools in the U.S.,” Clinuvel added. The move will involve laying off between 10% and 20% of the company’s global workforce, while “select functions” are relocated to the U.S. “This reflects a necessary realignment of operating expenditure with current revenue generation and near-term clinical and commercial priorities,” the company said. Clinuvel already has one drug on the market in the U.S. in the form of Scenesse, which the company touts as the first FDA-approved systemic photoprotective drug for the prevention of anaphylactoid reactions and burns in patients with erythropoietic protoporphyria, a rare genetic condition characterized by painful photosensitivity. Scenesse is also in phase 3 development for vitiligo. The company has another product heading to various regulators in the form of Neuracthel, a generic injectable adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) formulation. The candidate has been developed for a range of neurological, endocrinological and inflammatory disorders. Back in preclinical development is a controlled-release peptide platform, among others. Clinical programs in stroke, Parkinson’s disease and xeroderma pigmentosum were all suspended in 2024 to focus on vitiligo, ACTH and the porphyrias. Going forward, Clinuvel’s operational resources will be “pivoted exclusively toward the U.S. pharmaceutical pipeline and commercial strategy,” said the company, which noted its late-stage programs are already “primarily targeted at the U.S. patient population.” Australia layoffs vitiligo Biotech