In a note to employees on Thursday, Moderna Inc. said it was laying off about 10% of its global workforce as part of the biotechnology company’s plan to cut costs by $1.5 billion over the next couple of years.

The layoffs are part of an ongoing effort to reduce operating costs amid government and competitive challenges to its vaccine business.

Moderna said on Thursday it would trim roughly 10% of its global workforce and have fewer than 5,000 employees by the end of the year, as the biotech accelerates its cost-cutting efforts amid declining sales of COVID-19 vaccines.