Novartis closing Longmont drug facility in July, to lay off 400

LONGMONT — Pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) will lay off approximately 400 staffers and leave its 692,000-square-foot drug-making facility in Longmont, just more than a year after it reopened the site.

In a statement, the Swiss company said it will close the six-building complex by July 9 at the latest. The approximately 400 staffers at the site will be offered severance packages, job-placement support and some benefits. 

Novartis said that it anticipated it would need the Longmont plant to fulfill its expected demand alongside its sister plants in Libertyville, Illinois, and Durham, North Carolina, but later decided that it could meet…