Pfizer Inc. expects to inform employees of a “transition plan” at a facility in Sanford, the company said Wednesday, weeks after a clinical trial failed for a muscular dystrophy treatment that was being developed by the global drugmaker.

WRAL previously reported that the company was contemplating the elimination of about 200 positions in Sanford, where Pfizer has produced gene therapy products for the neuromuscular disease and two types of hemophilia.

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Pfizer, one of the biggest employers in Lee County, said in June that a trial for a Duchenne muscular dystrophy treatment failed to meet its goal of significantly improving motor function among boys 4 to 7 years old. The results prompted discussions about the potential cuts, which could amount to more than 10% of the company’s Sanford headcount, people familiar with the company’s plans previously told WRAL.

Asked about potential layoffs on Wednesday, Pfizer spokesman Steve Danehy told WRAL that the company planned a “transfer of activity.” He said the company doesn’t currently plan to close the Sanford site, and that the company remains committed to the city.

“In light of the recent disappointing results in our Ciffreo Duchene Muscular Dystrophy trial, we can’t rule out future changes to staffing,” Danehy said in a statement. “We anticipate a detailed transition plan will be communicated to colleagues in the coming weeks.”

He added: “These manufacturing changes create operational efficiencies and are part of the regular evaluation of our manufacturing network to ensure it meets the demands of our business.”

Pfizer recently won U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for a hemophilia treatment. It was unclear whether that approval would have any impact on operations in the state. Danehy declined to provide specifics about the company's plans in Sanford.

Federal law requires that companies file a notice to provide employees and communities a heads-up about closings and mass layoffs. The state Department of Commerce said Wednesday that it hadn’t received such a notice.

Early last year, the New York-based company employed at least 4,000 workers in North Carolina and had invested at least $1.4 billion in the state. It had been expanding in Lee County, spending at least $600 million on gene therapy facilities in Sanford over the past decade. In 2023, Pfizer bought a neighboring pharmaceutical manufacturing site in Sanford that recently won state and local incentives to add about 200 jobs of its own. Pfizer also has a plant in Rocky Mount, a massive facility that makes 25% of the company’s injectable medications.

In recent months, Pfizer has been shutting facilities elsewhere in the Triangle as part of a broader cost-slashing effort. The company said in October that it would close facilities in Durham and Morrisville as part of a company-wide realignment.

The company’s stock price has dropped about 24% on the New York Stock Exchange in the past year.