A Largo pharmaceutical company is planning dozens of layoffs after its acquisition by a firm in South Carolina.

VistaPharm Inc., which employs 177 people at its headquarters at 7265 Ulmerton Road, sold recently to PAI Pharma of Greenville, South Carolina. In a notice to the state, VistaPharm said PAI would move products and equipment from Largo to Greenville, “as it has been determined to be more cost effective and efficient to operate from the South Carolina facility.”

At least 36 employees will be laid off starting around Jan. 13, with more to come in 2023. VistaPharm said some employees will be offered a chance to relocate, but many will elect to stay in Tampa Bay and be cut.

VistaPharm manufactures and distributes generic liquid drugs, including opioid treatments available in more than 1,450 U.S. clinics. PAI Pharma makes an array of liquid medications, syrups and elixirs.

Other details on the sale were not immediately available. Calls and emails to to VistaPharm and PAI Pharma were not returned Wednesday morning.

Last week, layoffs were announced at two other Pinellas County workplaces: St. Petersburg’s BayFirst Financial, which will cut at least 58 employees at its Clearwater office and elsewhere, and Dallas-based DZS Inc., which will cut 58 as it closes its Seminole manufacturing facility.