GenVec To Cut Nearly One-Third Of Its Workforce

, a Gaithersburg-based biopharmaceutical company, announced Tuesday it will cut nearly one-third of its workforce in order to lower its operating costs to conserve capital.

"While it is a difficult decision to eliminate positions in our talented and dedicated workforce, this move is necessary to ensure that our costs are more closely aligned with our resources and business strategy," Cynthia Collins, GenVec's President and Chief Executive Officer, said in a company statement. 

The GenVec will eliminate 23 positions, approximately 30 percent of its employees, according to a media release.

"In response to reduced revenue expectations for 2013, these cost reductions will allow us to fund our operations through the third quarter of 2014 exclusive of milestones we are eligible to receive under our collaboration with Novartis," said Douglas Swirsky, GenVec's Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. "GenVec remains focused on advancing its technology and product opportunities through collaborations."

GenVec is active in producing treatments for hearing loss and loss of balance, as well as researching vaccines for a number of diseases, including malaria.