Hudson Valley Company Files For Bankruptcy, Laying Off 97 Workers

Another Hudson Valley company has gone belly-up and will be laying off almost 100 employees.

Just days after a Middletown warehouse announced that it was closing and eliminating the jobs of 54 workers, another company says it's going bankrupt, leaving the future of its 97-person workforce up in the air.

This week, workers were blindsided by an announcement that their employer was filing for bankruptcy and had put the company up for sale.

After abruptly canceling its 2023 earnings call on Monday and watching its stock plummet on the NADSAQ from over $13 a share to just $2.50 in one day, the maker of several popular drugs that treat neurological disorders announced that it was up for sale.

Bankruptcy and Layoffs for Hudson Valley Pharmaceutical Company

This week, Acorda Therapeutics announced that it was filing for Chapter 11 protection and selling off the rights to its drugs to a German company. Merz Therapeutics will purchase all of Acorda's assets, which include the drugs INBRIJA, AMPYRA, and FAMPYRA.

Acorda says operations at its Pearl River facility in Rockland County will continue during the bankruptcy process so medication can still be made available to sufferers of neurological disorders. A filing with the New York State Department of Labor indicates that all 97 workers will officially be laid off by June 15.

Acorda’s CEO and President, Ron Cohen, says the decision to file for bankruptcy has come after exhausting all other options. While he didn't specifically comment on the fate of its workforce, Cohen says the company's main focus now is to "ensure an uninterrupted supply of (its) medications to people with multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease."

It's unclear if Merz Therapeutics will decide to continue to keep the Rockland County facility open or fold operations into their existing network once the impending sale is complete.