Sarepta Therapeutics announced it has laid off more than one-third of its workforce, a drastic cost-cutting move following the deaths of two teenagers administered its gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

A filing with the state details the Columbus job cuts for a biotech cutting more than one-third of its workforce.

Sarepta Therapeutics is laying off 500 staffers, or 36% of its workforce, as part of a strategic restructuring aiming to save $400 million annually. | Sarepta Therapeutics has laid off 500 staffers, or 36% of its workforce,

A Cambridge-based company developing gene therapies for rare diseases is laying off more than a third of its workforce.

Sarepta rebuffed a call from the Food and Drug Administration to halt all shipments of its gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy over safety issues, even as patients and investors expressed growing concern about the company’s decision-making.

Massachusetts-based Sarepta Therapeutics, facing scrutiny from regulators, is reducing its global workforce by 36% in an effort to cut annual operating costs by hundreds of millions of dollars.

The drop comes the day after the drugmaker said it would add a so-called black-box warning to its gene therapy Elevidys after two teenage boys receiving the treatment died earlier this year.

British biopharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline will lay off 150 employees in its Cambridge operations by the end of March 2026, the company said in a notice to the state.