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Pfizer plans to shutter its South San Francisco research offices on April 30, ending its short tenure in the city.
Pfizer planted its flag in South San Francisco in 2022 when it acquired Global Blood Therapeutics for $5.4B. Two years later, Pfizer sought to sublease about 91K SF of its 164K SF office space over five floors at 181 Oyster Point Blvd., the San Francisco Chronicle first reported. The sublease included office and lab space.
The company said it will close the office completely, and all employees at the site will begin working remotely.
“After careful evaluation, Pfizer has decided to close its South San Francisco office as the office space is currently underutilized,” a Pfizer spokesperson said in a statement provided to Bisnow. “All colleagues designated to the site will transition to remote roles. Pfizer continues to maintain a strong presence in California, including its facilities in San Diego.”
Pfizer also said it is evaluating multiple options for its space in South San Francisco, including subleasing the entire five-story building owned by Healthpeak Properties.
Backfilling such a large space could prove challenging. Regional office broker Michael Moran, vice chairman of CBRE’s San Francisco Peninsula office, told the Chronicle that life sciences tenants are typically seeking modest-size spaces ranging from 5K SF to 20K SF rather than larger locations of 100K SF or more.
Vacancy for life sciences space in the South San Francisco area reached roughly 35% in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to a CBRE report.
Genentech, the largest biotech employer in South San Francisco, laid off 489 workers in 2025, according to multiple Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications filed with the state of California.
Other companies that have announced staff reductions include Arsenal Biosciences and Sutro Biosciences, the Chronicle noted.
Pfizer recently consolidated its Southern California oncology research operations to 230K SF of space in a new life sciences campus in Torrey Heights that was developed by Breakthrough Properties. In April 2025, Pfizer sold its 631K SF biotechnology office campus in La Jolla, California, to BioMed Realty for $255M, CoStar reported.
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