Two area biotechnology companies said Thursday that they are cutting jobs as part of broader reorganization moves.
Amy Atwood, spokeswoman for Takeda Oncology of Cambridge, said it will eliminate about 180 jobs at Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc., the Cambridge cancer drug developer it acquired last month. She cited an “overlap in job responsibilities” after the takeover.
Atwood said Takeda will retain about 120 former Ariad employees. About 50 others might work for Takeda’s strategic partner PRA Health Sciences Inc., a clinical research organization that is setting up shop in Boston, she said.
Takeda, which has about 2,000 employees in Cambridge, has decided to lease Ariad’s offices on Binney Street near Kendall Square and move the employees it’s keeping to Takeda’s campus on the other side of the city, Atwood said.
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Separately, cancer drug company Agenus Inc. of Lexington said it will eliminate 50 jobs over the next six months as part of a plan to conserve cash and refocus its research and development.
Agenus said it will close a site in Basel, Switzerland, and consolidate work at locations in Lexington, and Cambridge, England. While the cuts will be worldwide, an unspecified number of Lexington employees will lose their jobs, spokeswoman Michelle Linn said.
Robert Weisman can be reached at robert.weisman@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeRobW.