Catalent to lay off at least 96 employees in Maryland amid ongoing workforce reductions

Global pharma giant Catalent confirmed it will cut 96 jobs at its Maryland facilities, marking the latest in a series of workforce reductions that have affected hundreds of local employees since last year.

The contract development and manufacturing organization, which is headquartered in Florida and employs a reported 17,000 people around the world, filed a WARN notice on Feb. 19 about the cuts, and later confirmed the news to Technical.ly. 

This builds on two rounds of Catalent layoffs impacting Maryland last year, an August 2025 announcement eliminating 350 jobs and a November 2025 one cutting 77. 

“Following last year’s announcement regarding a shift in demand from a large commercial customer, we have made additional, expected workforce reductions at our Baltimore site,” a spokesperson for the company told Technical.ly. 

Catalent did not immediately provide comment on the number of employees at its Maryland sites or its plans for its future in Maryland.

Since opening its Maryland facilities, Catalent has had a major impact on the local biotech scene, where it makes muscular dystrophy therapy Elevidys. 

It acquired Baltimore-based Paragon Bioservices for $1.2 billion in 2019, landed a COVID vaccine manufacturing deal with AstraZeneca in 2020 and has spent at least $360 million upgrading its facility outside of BWI Airport.

In 2024, Novo Holdings acquired Catalent for $16.5 billion. Since then, it’s faced a few business hurdles on top of the recent downsizing. 

A 2025 FDA filing stated its Maryland facilities failed to sanitize their gloves often enough, and did not move at the slow and deliberate pace required for drug manufacturing. It also noted issues with the physical state of the infrastructure. 

Earlier this year, Catalent closed its Belgium site, reportedly due to a drop in demand. 

“While these changes are difficult, our Baltimore operations and our gene therapy business remain critical to Catalent,” the Catalent spokesperson said. “We continue to partner closely with both existing and new customers, supporting a growing pipeline of novel gene therapies.”