A North Carolina company's actions will lessen the impact from OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s departure from Boulder.

Starting Monday, clinical research company Novella Clinical Inc. will assume control of some of OSI's Boulder operations, the companies announced Thursday. Last summer, OSI officials said they would close the 145-employee Boulder office as part of the Melville, N.Y.-based company's plans to consolidate its U.S. operations to a single campus in New York.

Expanding on an existing clinical service agreement, Novella officials said Wednesday they will provide research and clinical services to OSI for two years and employ some of OSI's staff in Boulder.

Novella plans to employ "north of 30" of the former OSI employees and further expand its operations in Boulder, said Richard Staub, Novella's president and chief executive officer.

Noting that Novella had plans to establish operations in the Western United States, Staub indicated that Novella could remain in Boulder past the two-year agreement.

"The presence in Boulder is a long-term strategy for us," he said, adding that the employees' background in oncology falls in line with one of the Novella's key areas of focus.

Novella employs 550 workers companywide at offices in North Carolina, the United Kingdom and Russia.

About 145 people worked at OSI's Boulder office, according to employment information provided to the Camera around the time of the consolidation announcement. OSI officials said the consolidation -- which would affect 350 people who work in Melville; Farmingdale, N.Y.; Boulder; and Cedar Knolls, N.J. -- was intended to "simplify" its business operations.

As of Wednesday, OSI has yet to file a notice with Colorado's labor department under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, said Bill Thoennes, a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

Contact Camera Business Writer Alicia Wallace at 303-473-1332 or wallacea@dailycamera.com.