Employee Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2022

Disclosure Text Block

Employee Benefit Plans

17. Employee Benefit Plans

The Company sponsors various retirement and pension plans. The estimates of liabilities and expenses for these plans incorporate a number of assumptions, including expected rates of return on plan assets and interest rates used to discount future benefits.

401(k) Savings Plan

The Company maintains a 401(k) plan for employees (the 401(k) Plan). The 401(k) Plan is intended to qualify under Section 401(k) of the Code, so that contributions to the 401(k) Plan by employees or by the Company, and the investment earnings on contributions, are not taxable to the employees until withdrawn from the 401(k) Plan, and so that contributions by the Company, if any, will be deductible by the Company when made. Under the 401(k) Plan, employees may elect to reduce their current compensation by up to the statutorily prescribed annual limit and to have the amount of such reduction contributed to the 401(k) Plan. The 401(k) Plan permits the Company to make contributions up to the limits allowed by law on behalf of all eligible employees. The expense related to the 401(k) Plan primarily consists of the Company’s matching contributions. The expenses related to the 401(k) Plan for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 were $3.7 million, $3.0 million and $1.9 million, respectively.

Switzerland Defined Benefit Plan

The Company maintains a pension plan covering employees of its Swiss subsidiary, Blueprint Medicines (Switzerland) GmbH (the “Swiss Plan”). The Swiss Plan is a government-mandated retirement fund that provides employees with a minimum benefit. Employer and employee contributions are made to the Swiss Plan based on various percentages of salary and wages that vary according to employee age and other factors. As is customary with Swiss pension plans, the assets of the Swiss Plan are invested in a collective fund with multiple employers. The Company has no investment authority over the assets of the Swiss Plan, which are held and invested by a Swiss insurance company. The investment strategy of the Swiss Plan is managed by an independent asset manager with the objective of achieving a consistent long-term return which will provide sufficient funding for future pension obligations while limiting risk.

The following table summarizes the plan balances as of December 31, 2022 and 2021:

	December 31,		December 31,
	2022		2021
Fair value of plan assets	$	5,706	$	4,551
Projected benefit obligation		(8,763)		(7,908)
Unfunded status recorded as other long-term liabilities		(3,057)		(3,357)
Accumulated benefit obligation	$	6,575	$	6,482

The Company’s net periodic benefit cost for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 was $1.2 million and $2.0 million, respectively. The net periodic benefit cost for the year ended December 31, 2020 was not material. The contributions to the Swiss Plan for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 were not material.