Just under 40 employees at ImmunityBio Inc. in Dunkirk will be impacted by layoffs.

The company cited “economic” as a reason for the workforce reduction in a report to the state Department of Labor. In its Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act filing, ImmunityBio said 38 employees were on “inactive status” as of Sept. 29 and would be considered terminated as of Dec. 28.

As first reported in late September by the OBSERVER, ImmunityBio informed employees of the layoffs and noted “construction needs” at the 3805 Lake Shore Drive plant. One worker estimated that 40 employees were losing their jobs in several departments within the California-based clinical-stage immunotherapy company.

This week’s WARN filing confirms the number of employees who will be terminated by the end of the year.

ImmunityBio in a statement last month said there were “construction needs that may take approximately 12 to 18 months in order to enable the facility to be used as it has been intended.”

“For this reason, we will need fewer employees during the construction period,” the company said. “That said, we remain committed to the Dunkirk area and the large-scale manufacturing facility.”

A spokeswoman said workers will be able to reapply for open positions as they become available.

The $205 million plant was built specifically for the Buffalo-based Athenex, a drug development company.

In March 2021, Athenex was hit with a major setback when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration denied its approval for a drug to treat metastatic breast cancer the company was developing. At the time, Athenex said it would work with regulators on the issues cited in a complete response letter from the FDA.

A lease for the facility was acquired by ImmunityBio in February of this year.