UPDATE

Today, 5 News spoke with both the president of the Monongalia County Commission, Tom Bloom and Senator Joe Manchin about the 500 layoffs at Mylan Pharmaceuticals in Morgantown.

According to Bloom, the layoffs are a big loss for the county and it's no question their effects will be felt far and beyond the Monongalia County community.

"When you talk about Mylan and the workers, you talk about the people who make up our county. Hopefully, we will move on and hopefully, we will find jobs for them," Bloom said.

As you may recall, Joe Manchin's daughter, Heather Bresch, is the CEO of Mylan. 5 News asked Senator Manchin about the layoffs while he was in town today and he said, "Anytime anyone gets laid off it's devastating. We have to help transition and make sure there are opportunities and markets for them to find good jobs."

UPDATE

A Mylan representative has released the following statement regarding the company's layoff of 500 employees in Morgantown:

"Today/on Friday, we announced layoffs affecting about 15% of our workforce in Morgantown, primarily in operations. Following the layoffs, we will remain one of the largest employers in West Virginia with approx. 3,000 employees.

We believe our plant there/here is one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in the world. As the industry has changed and regulatory expectations have continued to evolve, we’ve realized that our Morgantown plant needed to be rightsized to be less complex. The right-sizing is consistent with discussions we are having with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is necessary in order to position the site as best we can for continued operations.

We remain committed to a U.S. manufacturing base and plan to continue making the majority of the medicines we supply to the U.S in the U.S.

For nearly 60 years, Mylan has been a proud corporate citizen in West Virginia, and we remain so today.

Mylan’s commitment to its employees and the community is to ensure that our company remains built to last and always positioned to serve patient needs as effectively as possible."

ORIGINAL STORY

Mylan Pharmaceuticals will be laying off 500 workers at the Morgantown location. The announcement was made at a meeting with workers and union representatives at the Marriott, Waterfront Place Friday morning.

A Mylan representative told 5 News, the company is laying off 15 percent of workers, mainly in the Operations department.

Layoffs are effective immediately.

Mylan employs 3,500 workers but following the layoffs that number will shrink to 3,000.

More information is set to be released later in the day.

Stick with 5 News for the latest.