The new owner of Portland generic pet medicine company Putney has laid off about one-third of the Maine-based staff.

The layoffs were first reported Thursday by the blog Maine Startup Insider, which quoted former CEO Jean Hoffman and a source inside the company confirming the layoffs of about 17 people. Hoffman told the blog that most of the layoffs were focused on the company’s commercial team, which includes sales, marketing, customer service and logistics staff.

Putney, founded in 2006, was sold in March to British firm Dechra Pharmaceuticals for $200 million. At the time of the sale, Dechra declined to say what it intended to do with Putney’s operation, which researches, develops and markets generic pet medicines, but outsources manufacturing.

In 2015, Putney reported revenue of nearly $50 million.


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