Roche has recently launched a “fundamental reorganization” of Spark Therapeutics, the gene therapy unit the Swiss pharma bought for $4.3 billion in 2019.

Roche described the restructuring in its annual finance report (PDF) published in late January. The move is part of the company’s wider strategic change across its pharma division, a company spokesperson told Fierce Pharma.

The entire Spark team is subject to reshuffling, raising a question of whether the Spark brand itself will be preserved. Of the 647 employees that Spark employed as of April 17, 337 employees will be laid off, while the rest 310 will have their jobs integrated into the parent Roche, a Roche spokesperson told Fierce Pharma in an update.

Details of the plans, such as which functions those 310 people will assume at Roche, are still being finalized. In the January report, Roche said certain activities will remain at the current Spark site in Philadelphia, while others will be consolidated into the broader pharmaceuticals division.

“By fully integrating Spark into Roche, we more closely align,” the Roche spokesperson said.

Roche is currently working through the integration planning and expects to have details later this year, the spokesperson said.

In late 2021, Roche committed to a $575 million plan to build a new 500,000-square-foot gene therapy innovation center in Philadelphia. The multistory facility continues to be built, according to the spokesperson.