Layoff Tracker: Kojin Will Soon Close Its Doors, Affecting 25 Employees

2024 was a tough year for the biopharma industry, with several companies including Bayer, Bristol Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson cutting hundreds or even thousands of employees.

BioSpace will continue to be your source of news on job cuts and restructuring initiatives throughout 2025. Follow along as we keep you up to date on which companies are tightening their belts and cutting staff.

To see which biopharmas laid off employees in the years prior to 2025, check out our 2023 and 2024 articles.

Know about a layoff happening in biopharma? Feel free to contact Angela Gabriel at angela.gabriel@biospace.com.

Kojin Therapeutics
Feb. 17

Due to funding challenges, Boston-based Kojin Therapeutics will soon shut down, affecting 25 employees, Endpoints News reported Feb. 14. Kojin CEO Harvey Berger told Endpoints the biotech was months away from selecting a development candidate for its lead small molecule.

The company shared its plans to wind down in the coming months in a Feb. 13 LinkedIn post. In that post, Kojin noted it had made progress in developing first-in-class small molecule ferroptosis inducers for potential use in patients with cancer and autoimmune diseases. However, it added, it’s been difficult to obtain sufficient funding to move programs forward into Investigational New Drug–enabling studies and clinical trials.

Kojin launched in 2021 with a $60 million Series A round. The company has been focused on discoveries in cell-state and ferroptosis biology to develop treatments for use in patients with various forms of cancer as well as cardiovascular, immunologic, hepatic and degenerative diseases. Ferroptosis-modulating medicines can either induce or inhibit regulated cell death, creating opportunities to intervene in human ferroptosis pathways, according to Kojin’s website.

In its LinkedIn post, the biotech noted, “We are very proud of what we have accomplished scientifically in the past year and hope that ferroptosis-specific medicines will reach patients in need of better treatment options soon.”

Moderna
Feb. 17

Moderna is cutting 10% of roles—about 50 employees—within two digital departments, Fierce Pharma reported Feb. 13, the day before the biotech detailed higher-than-expected losses for the fourth quarter of 2024. The layoffs are part of Moderna’s ongoing cost efficiency efforts, according to a company spokesperson’s statement to Fierce.

The company on Feb. 14 reported total revenue of $966 million for Q4 2024, down from $2.81 billion in Q4 2023. Full-year revenue also declined, dropping from $6.8 billion in 2023 to $2.81 billion last year.

In a Jan. 6 shareholder letter, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel wrote that by the end of 2024, the company had reduced its cash operating cost by nearly 25% compared to the prior year. He also said the biotech expects to “continuously reduce annual research and development costs, through portfolio prioritization and cost efficiencies, such that by 2027 we will plan to spend approximately $1.1 billion less per year compared to 2024.”

Encoded Therapeutics
Feb. 14

To extend its cash runway and help advance its pipeline, Encoded Therapeutics has let go 29% of its workforce, primarily within its technology and early-stage research and development functions, the company announced Feb. 13. The move will allow the San Francisco–based clinical-stage genetic medicines biotech to keep operating through the third quarter of 2026.

The company has around 200 employees, according to its LinkedIn People page, meaning the workforce reduction could affect around 60 people and leave Encoded with about 140 staffers. The biotech did not say if the cuts affect only the San Francisco location or also its Research Triangle Park facility in Morrisville, N.C.

Extending its runway will help the company achieve several key milestones, including preliminary clinical safety and efficacy for ETX101, according to the announcement. ETX101 is Encoded’s lead program, designed to address the underlying cause of Dravet syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy. The company expects to complete dosing and share preliminary safety and efficacy data in the second half of the year.

For more details, read the article.

Third Harmonic Bio
Feb. 12

Third Harmonic Bio on Tuesday announced a strategic corporate realignment initiative that will include a 50% reduction of its workforce.

The move comes as the biotech prepares to push its oral KIT inhibitor THB335 into Phase II development. Third Harmonic is suspending all R&D work not related to THB335 and is currently weighing options to “maximize shareholder value,” including “through a strategic transaction and/or business combination.”

Third Harmonic had around $285 million in cash and cash equivalents as of the end of 2024, enough to support its operations through June 2024, after accounting for expenses related to THB335’s Phase II preparations and costs associated with the restructuring.

Also on Tuesday, Third Harmonic unveiled Phase I clinical data for THB335 demonstrating a dose-dependent reduction in serum tryptase levels, a biomarker of mast cell activation. The candidate was also safe and tolerable, with side effects that were manageable or resolved through follow-up. Third Harmonic is testing THB335 for chronic spontaneous urticaria.

Q32
Feb. 12

Q32 Bio will cut an undisclosed number of employees as part of a strategic restructuring that includes focusing on advancing its bempikibart clinical development program for the treatment of patients with alopecia areata. The Waltham, Massachusetts–based biotech expects the move will help extend its cash runway to the second half of 2026, according to its Feb. 10 announcement.

As part of the restructuring, the company is also discontinuing its Phase II renal basket clinical trial of ADX-097 and evaluating strategic options for its tissue-targeted complement inhibitor platform, including its ADX-097 and early-stage assets.

To further advance bempikibart, Q32 plans to extend dosing of eligible patients from Part A of its Phase II clinical trial and start dosing patients in Part B in the first half of 2025. The company expects to have Part B topline data in the first half of 2026.

Inventiva
Feb. 12

As it moves to focus exclusively on developing lanifibranor for the treatment of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, French biotech Inventiva is laying off half its employees. The company expects to implement the workforce reduction in the second quarter, according to its Feb. 10 announcement.

Inventiva had about 115 employees on Feb. 11, according to its LinkedIn People page, meaning the layoffs could affect less than 60 people.

As part of its pipeline shift, the biotech will stop all preclinical research activities except those that support the lanifibranor program. That includes ending work on its primary oncology program meant to disrupt the interaction between YAP and TEAD that occurs along the Hippo signaling pathway.

Inventiva in early January finished patient screening in a Phase III clinical trial testing lanifibranor in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). More than 95% of participants have been randomized, and enrollment should be complete within the first half of this year, with top-line results in the second half of 2026, according to the announcement.

For more details, read the article.

Viracta Therapeutics
Feb. 7

Viracta Therapeutics announced Feb. 5 that it would shut down its operations and lay off all remaining employees, which may have been under 20 people after recent workforce cuts. The closure and terminations, approved by the biotech’s board of directors Feb. 3, took effect at 5 p.m. PST on Feb. 5.

The news marked the end of what had been a tough few months for Cardiff, California–based Viracta. In August 2024, the biotech announced a resource realignment initiative that involved a 23% reduction in its headcount. At the time, the company also decided to pause work on Epstein-Barr virus-positive (EBV+) solid tumors and instead focus on EBV+ lymphomas.

A few months later, in November 2024, Viracta announced it had laid off 42% of remaining staff in an attempt to divert even more resources into its lymphoma program. In December, the company was forced to terminate the program for EBV+ lymphoma in an effort “to maximize its cash runway” as the board searched for another route to solvency. Then, last month, Viracta was delisted from Nasdaq for failing to comply with the minimum share price requirement.

Based on a recent SEC filing that put the number of employees at 26 prior to the cuts announced in November, the company may have had around 15 people on staff prior to the company’s closure.

For more details, read the article.

X4 Pharmaceuticals
Feb. 7

X4 Pharmaceuticals announced Feb. 6 it is laying off 43 people, about 30% of its employees worldwide. The move will leave the company with around 100 staff members.

The Boston-based business is closing a “research center of excellence” in Vienna, Austria, and pausing all preclinical drug candidates, according to a statement. The layoffs and scale-back of operations will save the company between $30 million and $35 million.

The news comes less than a year after X4 got FDA approval for mavorixafor, a CXCR4 antagonist now marketed as Xolremdi, for the treatment of an immunodeficiency syndrome known as WHIM (warts, hypogammaglobulinemia, infections and myelokathexis) syndrome. At the time, the company stated that it was the first FDA approval specifically targeted for the disorder.

Last month, X4 signed a licensing deal with Norgine, a European pharma company, to commercialize mavorixafor in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. That deal netted X4 €28.5 million ($29.55 million) up front and up to €226 million ($234.29 million) in regulatory and commercial milestones.

For more details, read the article.

Bristol Myers Squibb
Feb. 7

Bristol Myers Squibb’s strategic reorganization rolls on with an additional $2 billion in savings planned through 2027 on top of an ongoing program that had targeted $1.5 billion in cost cuts by the end of 2025. The dramatic upheaval of the BMS business, spurred when CEO Chris Boerner took the helm in 2023, has been painful, with layoffs and program discontinuations.

The New Jersey pharma explained in its fourth quarter earnings release that the new savings will come from changes in organizational design and efforts to enhance operational efficiency. The goal is to become a “leaner, more efficient company while investing behind growth brands and promising areas of science,” according to the press release.

Workforce cuts will include contract positions, open roles and attrition, Endpoints News reported.

For more details, read the article.

Frontier Medicines
Feb. 6

To focus resources where they’ll have the greatest impact, Frontier Medicines, a clinical-stage precision medicine company, will cut an unknown number of employees, Fierce Biotech reported Feb. 5.

The San Francisco-based biotech, which also has a location in Boston, is streamlining operations to ensure it can “remain positioned and well-capitalized” to deliver on the potential of its pipeline, a spokesperson told Fierce via email. The company has not formally announced the layoffs, which locations they’ll affect or when they’ll be effective.

Frontier’s lead program is FMC-376, a KRAS G12C dual inhibitor. The company in February 2024 announced it had closed an oversubscribed $80 million Series C funding round to advance FMC-376. Frontier noted at that time that it had dosed its first patient in the Phase I/II PROSPER trial, testing the inhibitor in patients with G12C-mutated KRAS cancers. The company expects interim clinical data for FMC-376 in the second half of this year, according to a Jan. 9 press release.

Kyowa Kirin
Feb. 5

Japanese pharma Kyowa Kirin will cut 52 employees at its Princeton, New Jersey, location effective May 1, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice. The site houses commercial and corporate functions, clinical development and operations, supply chain and quality teams.

The company, which has not announced the cuts or reasons behind them, restructured its workforce last year as well. In August, Kyowa offered voluntary early retirement to employees in connection with its transition to becoming a global research organization that will support its focus on advanced antibody technologies and hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy. That transition included significantly reducing the pharma’s in-house small molecule drug discovery research activities and decreasing chemistry, manufacturing and controls research and quality-related activities.

In other recent organizational news, Kyowa in October announced it was setting up a new leadership structure that will be effective in March. The company is promoting Masashi Miyamoto from president to chairman and CEO, and Abdul Mullick from chief international business officer to president and chief operating officer. The CEO-COO team is meant to help support the company’s continued growth, according to the announcement.

Omega Therapeutics
Feb. 5

Despite a 2024 collaboration with obesity giant Novo Nordisk, Omega Therapeutics appears to have reached the end of its rope, with bankruptcy looming just ahead and staff cuts already happening. As its cash runway fizzles, the Cambridge, Massachusetts–based epigenomic medicines company has entered into a restructuring support agreement with its founder, Flagship Pioneering.

According to an SEC filing dated Jan. 29, Omega has until Feb. 10 to commence bankruptcy proceedings and go through a sale process with Pioneering Medicines, an affiliate of Flagship Pioneering, to potentially wind down operations. The company will provide a bridge loan of about $1.4 million upon the signing of the agreement.

Omega had previously warned investors of its cash concerns in a November SEC filing, which stated the company had only enough capital to take it into the second quarter of 2025. Omega attempted to cut costs last March when it laid off 35% of its workforce, representing more than 30 staffers based on its headcount at the end of 2023. The most recent layoffs could leave the company with around 40 employees.

For more details, read the article.

Bristol Myers Squibb
Feb. 4

As its sweeping cost-cutting initiative rolls on, Bristol Myers Squibb revealed that it will downsize its New Jersey headcount by 67, as per a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice published Tuesday.

The layoffs will take effect from April through December of the year.

BMS first unveiled its “strategic productivity initiative” alongside its first-quarter 2024 earnings report in April that year, targeting to save approximately $1.5 billion through 2025. Through the realignment program, the pharma plans to minimize management layers and prioritize key growth brands while lowering third-party expenditures. Around 2,200 jobs are on the chopping block.

Last month, BMS turned its back on two development partners—Immatics and Century Therapeutics. The pharma was supposed to work with Immatics on allogeneic T cell receptor and/or CAR T therapies, while its partnership with Century was focused on stem cell-derived natural killer cell or T cell therapies for hematologic malignancies. Both biotechs reported that BMS terminated the partnerships as part of a “portfolio prioritization” push.

Turnstone Biologics
Feb. 4

Turnstone Biologics is making major moves, cutting an undisclosed number of staff as it explores strategic alternatives and halts further development of its TIDAL-01 program, the clinical-stage biotech announced Feb. 4. The strategic alternatives could include an acquisition, merger, business combination, sale of assets, licensing or other transactions. Turnstone indicated it intends to retain employees “essential for supporting value-realization as part of its strategic review.”

This marks the second recent shakeup at the La Jolla, California–based company. In October, Turnstone announced it would cut about 60% of its employees, leaving the biotech with 30 people, according to a November SEC filing. It also disclosed it was adjusting its leadership team and shifting its pipeline to focus on clinical advancement of its selected tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy via TIDAL-01. The biotech was evaluating TIDAL-01 in multiple Phase I trials including in colorectal cancer, head and neck cancer and uveal melanoma.

Turnstone had indicated it would provide a clinical update in the first half of 2025. Now, the company has announced it’s discontinuing all clinical studies evaluating TIDAL-01. It’s also implementing further cost-containment and cash conservation measures, according to the Feb. 4 announcement.

The company had an accumulated deficit of $234.7 million and $45.3 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments as of Sept. 30, according to the November SEC filing.

Charles River Laboratories
Feb. 4

Charles River Laboratories will be closing down its site in Durham County, North Carolina, leading to the termination of 31 employees, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice published Tuesday. In a statement to Endpoints News, a company representative said that the facility was no longer “a strategic fit” for the organization.

The layoffs will be effective March 28.

In the third quarter of 2024, Charles River reported a revenue of $1.01 billion, down 1.6.% from the same period the year prior. The dip was driven by the lower performance of its Discovery and Safety Assessment unit, the company noted at the time.

Charles River is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 earnings report on Feb. 19.

Thermo Fisher Scientific
Feb. 3

Just months after disclosing it would cut employees at its Cambridge and Plainville, Massachusetts, locations, Thermo Fisher Scientific has announced a fresh round of layoffs at those viral vector sites. The Waltham-based tools and services company will let go 300 people across the two facilities, according to a Jan. 31 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice. Those cuts will be effective March 30.

In November, Thermo Fisher disclosed via WARN notices it would lay off 160 people across its Cambridge, Lexington and Plainville sites, effective between Jan. 6, 2025, and Nov. 6, 2026. At that time, the Boston Business Journal reported the company will close the Lexington facility, transferring programs from there to Plainville. The 290,000-square-foot Plainville location provides comprehensive viral vector services, including commercial manufacturing.

The Cambridge and Plainville cuts were disclosed at about the same time Thermo Fisher announced its fourth quarter and full-year 2024 results. The company shared that while fourth-quarter revenue grew 5% year over year, full-year revenue was flat at $42.8 billion.

Fractyl Health
Feb. 3

Metabolic therapeutics company Fractyl Health announced Jan. 31 it will prioritize a pivotal clinical trial aimed at weight maintenance post-GLP-1 withdrawal while shuttering another trial and laying off 17% of its workforce.

According to an SEC filing, the layoffs amount to 22 people, indicating Fractyl had 129 employees prior to the layoffs. The savings, following $1.8 million paid out in severance and other related fees, will extend the company’s runway into 2026, according to the news release.

Fractyl has two main products in development—an endoscopy treatment called Revita designed to resurface the lining of the duodenum, and an AAV gene therapy called Rejuva, which aims to modify pancreatic cells to restore GLP-1 pathway function in islet cells. The company cites Revita as an “off-ramp” to injectable GLP-1 treatments for obesity and diabetes.

Fractyl’s shift in priorities means it is pausing development of Revita and its associated REVITALIZE-1 trial in type 2 diabetes and focusing on Revita’s pivotal REMAIN-1 trial in weight maintenance post-GLP-1 withdrawal, along with Rejuva, which is set to initiate first-in-human studies in this first half of this year.

For more details, read the article.

ImmunityBio
Feb. 3

ImmunityBio’s layoffs are continuing into 2025, with the San Diego–based biotech cutting 10 employees in California effective March 25, according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices. The company has not announced the workforce reduction or reasons behind it.

The biotech had 672 employees as of Sept. 30, according to a Nov. 12 SEC filing. Given ImmunityBio let go 31 people over the course of October and November, this means the new cuts—nine in El Segundo and one in Culver City— could leave the company with around 630 staffers.

At the same time that ImmunityBio is trimming its workforce, it’s also moving forward with a new collaboration involving Anktiva, its FDA-approved immunotherapy for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, according to a Jan. 29 announcement. The company has entered into a collaboration and supply agreement with BeiGene, a global oncology company, to conduct a confirmatory randomized Phase III clinical trial combining BeiGene’s a PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor (CPI) tislelizumab and Anktiva in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

For more details, read the article.

Rentschler Biopharma
Jan. 31

As part of its exit from the cell and gene therapy space, contract development and manufacturing organization Rentschler Biopharma will cease operations at its Stevenage, U.K., site, affecting employees there, the company announced Jan. 30. A Rentschler spokesperson told Endpoints News via email that the move could affect up to 30 people, and the Laupheim, Germany–based company will provide resources to help them find other opportunities.

The CDMO is withdrawing from cell and gene therapy as part of a long-term strategic shift so it can focus on biologics, according to the announcement.

In that press release, CEO Benedikt von Braunmühl stated, “The cell and gene therapy market has experienced slower-than-expected growth, with demand across the industry not meeting our expectations. Following a comprehensive strategic review, we are focusing our efforts on areas where we see the greatest demand and potential to create value sustainably.”

Cargo Therapeutics
Jan. 31

Cargo Therapeutics is a little lighter—on both the pipeline and workforce front—as the CAR T–focused biotech announced Jan. 29 that it is discontinuing a mid-stage study of its lead candidate and parting with approximately half of its employees. The company is letting go 81 people effective April 1, according to a Jan. 30 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice.

Jefferies analysts in an investor note Jan. 30 called the news a “surprise disappointment” as the Phase I study had showed a 50% complete response rate and long multi-year durability of firicabtagene autoleucel (firi-cel)—an autologous CD22 CAR T cell therapy.

Cargo had 170 employees as of Sept. 30, 2024, according to a Nov. 13 SEC filing, meaning the layoffs could leave the company with about 85 employees.

For more details, read the article.

Correction (Feb. 4): This entry was updated to change the number of employees let go to 81 and add the effective date based on a WARN notice published today.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals
Jan. 31

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals on Wednesday announced a steep workforce reduction initiative that will allow it to lower its spending and “is intended to position the company for long-term growth.”

The news of the layoffs comes as Boston-based Ironwood unveiled its 2025 revenue guidance, expecting to make between $260 million to $290 million—a range that falls far below the $340 million consensus by analysts, according to SeekingAlpha. Ironwood dipped around 7% in after-hours trading Wednesday.

Approximately 50% of the company’s employees will be affected by the layoffs, mostly those working in its field force, the biotech revealed in its news release. The workforce reduction should be mostly complete by the end of June, leaving Ironwood with about 120 employees, according to a Jan. 29 SEC filing.

While the company has operations in Basel, Switzerland, it did not specify if the cuts will affect staff there.

For more details, read the article.

Zentalis Pharmaceuticals
Jan. 30

Zentalis Pharmaceuticals announced Jan. 28 it is cutting about 40% of its workforce in what it called a “strategic restructuring” as the biotech goes all in on bringing its lead candidate to the market.

According to Zentalis, the move aims to extend the company’s cash runway until late 2027, with the hope of getting beyond a Phase II data readout for azenosertib in ovarian, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancer.

The company had 168 employees as of Dec. 31, 2023, according to a Feb. 27, 2024, SEC filing, meaning the layoffs could leave it with about 100 employees.

Along with the restructuring, Zentalis reported mid-trial data from azenosertib from the MAMMOTH and DENALI studies on Jan. 29, showing a 5.5 month median duration of response and “no new safety signals.”

For more details, read the article.

I-Mab
Jan. 30

I-Mab will cut 27% of staff weeks after announcing a reprioritization of its pipeline to focus on a Phase I bispecific antibody.

The move will cost the Maryland-based immuno-oncology company about $300,000 but is estimated to save about $3 million overall. I-Mab expects the realignment to be completed by the end of the first quarter 2025, it noted in its Jan. 28 SEC filing. According to 2023 filings, I-Mab had 220 total employees as of Dec. 31, 2023, though most worked at a divested China operation.

The company had just under 135 people listed on its LinkedIn profile’s People page on Jan. 29, meaning the cuts could leave it with fewer than 100 employees.

The layoffs follow an announcement in early January that I-Mab will re-prioritize resources to focus on advancing lead molecule givastomig, a CLDN18.2 and 4-1BB bispecific antibody for certain metastatic gastric cancers. The candidate is currently in Phase Ib trials in combination with Bristol Myers Squibb’s checkpoint inhibitor Opdivo and chemotherapy, with data readouts expected in the second half of 2025. Other trials featuring givastomig are expected to readout in 2026.

For more details, read the article.

Affini-T Therapeutics
Jan. 29

Affini-T Therapeutics let go an undisclosed number of employees last week, Endpoints News reported. Jak Knowles, the biotech’s CEO, confirmed the cuts to Endpoints Jan. 28.

The Watertown, Massachusetts–based cell therapy company had just under 90 people listed on its LinkedIn profile’s People page on Jan. 28. However, about a dozen had “open to work” designations on their profile photos.

Affini-T is developing T cell receptor (TCR)–based immunotherapies for solid tumors. It has two autologous TCR T cell therapy programs in the clinical stage and two in the preclinical stage, according to its website. Three bispecific T cell engagers are in the discovery stage.

Endpoints noted that Knowles had previously told the publication that the biotech’s launch-round funding would take it through December 2024. Started by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center researchers, Affini-T debuted in January 2022 at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. Two months later, it announced it had raised $175 million in initial financing.

Atara Biotherapeutics
Jan. 29

Following the FDA’s rejection of Atara Biotherapeutics’ T cell therapy for a transplant-related blood cancer and a related clinical hold, the company divulged that it will cut about 50% of its workforce. The biotech expects to mostly complete the layoffs by June, according to a Jan. 27 SEC filing.

Atara had 159 employees as of Sept. 30, as noted in a Nov. 12, 2024, SEC filing, which means the layoffs could leave the company with around 80 employees. The biotech did not specify which locations the workforce reduction will affect. Atara has its headquarters and a research center in Thousand Oaks, California, as well as a location in Aurora, Colorado.

On Jan. 16, the FDA rejected Atara’s Ebvallo, which is approved in Europe for patients with post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease who are positive for the Epstein-Barr virus, citing unresolved manufacturing concerns. About a week later, the FDA took the additional step of placing a clinical hold on the biotech’s active Investigational New Drug applications due to the same manufacturing concerns that led to Ebvallo’s rejection. In addition to Ebvallo, the hold also affected the company’s allogeneic CD19 CAR T therapy ATA3219, which it’s testing for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and systemic lupus erythematosus.

For more details, read the article.

Allakos
Jan. 28

A year after slashing about half of its workforce, Allakos announced it will cut 75% of its employees and discontinue further development of AK006 following disappointing Phase 1 results. The move will leave the San Carlos, California–based biotech with about 15 employees as it explores strategic alternatives and winds down the trial, according to the Jan. 27 announcement.

Although AK006 was well tolerated, preclinical inhibitory effects observed did not translate to clinical benefit in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), a skin condition that causes hives, according to a statement by Chin Lee, Allakos chief medical officer, in the press release. In the Phase 1 trial, patients taking AK006 did not show significant improvement in their symptoms as compared with the placebo group.

This is not the first time Allakos has ditched a CSU candidate. In January 2024, the company announced it would halt its humanized IgG1 antibody lirentelimab. It also noted it would cut about 50% of its employees and focus its efforts and resources on AK006 and additional preclinical programs.

For more details, read the article.

Allakos
Jan. 28

A year after slashing about half of its workforce, Allakos announced it will cut 75% of its employees and discontinue further development of AK006 following disappointing Phase I results. The move will leave the San Carlos, California–based biotech with about 15 employees as it explores strategic alternatives and winds down the trial, according to the Jan. 27 announcement.

Although AK006 was well tolerated, preclinical inhibitory effects observed did not translate to clinical benefit in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), a skin condition that causes hives, Allakos Chief Medical Officer Chin Lee said in a statement. In the Phase I trial, patients taking AK006 did not show significant improvement in their symptoms as compared with the placebo group.

This is not the first time Allakos has ditched a CSU candidate. In January 2024, the company announced it would halt its humanized IgG1 antibody lirentelimab. It also noted then that it would cut about 50% of its employees and focus its efforts and resources on AK006 and additional preclinical programs.

For more details, read the article.

Biogen
Jan. 24

Biogen will lay off an undisclosed number of employees from its research unit, a company spokesperson confirmed to BioSpace Jan. 23. The staff cuts, first reported by Endpoints News, come as Biogen’s stock languishes in a five-year low.

The company is looking to “reinvigorate” its drug discovery machinery, according to the spokesperson. “The aim is to be more agile, efficient, and effective to deliver more viable drug candidates to the clinic.”

The workforce reduction is among the first sweeping strategic moves by new research head Jane Grogan, who took charge of the department in October 2023.

Grogan, who was previously chief scientific officer at Graphite Bio, was appointed amid Biogen’s aggressive cost-cutting program announced in July 2023, which put around 1,000 jobs—or approximately 11% of the company’s headcount—on the chopping block. The layoffs are expected to continue this year, with an eye toward saving $1 billion in operating expenses.

For more details, read the article.

Notch Therapeutics
Jan. 17

To preserve cash and “explore alternate paths forward,” Notch Therapeutics will significantly reduce its workforce, the Vancouver, British Columbia–based company announced on LinkedIn Jan. 16. Fierce Biotech first reported the news.

Notch, which is developing T cell therapies for cancer and autoimmune conditions, has three locations, including one in Seattle and another in Toronto. It did not specify how many people it will let go or which sites the cuts will affect. There are 67 LinkedIn members who list Notch as their employer as of the morning of Jan. 17.

In its LinkedIn post, the company wrote, “The biotech market has faced significant challenges over the last few years, with early-stage cell therapy companies being significantly affected. Unfortunately, Notch is not immune from this environment. While we have made considerable progress, securing additional investment and/or additional partners to take our research forward remains challenging.”

Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Jan. 14
Apellis Pharmaceuticals on Monday announced that it was letting go of 40 employees. The workforce reduction is part of the biotech’s effort to prioritize its commercial efforts in the U.S.—meaning that the layoffs will affect employees located overseas.

Alongside the layoffs, Apellis also announced that its chief operating officer Adam Townsend will step down from his role effective Feb. 21 to pursue a new opportunity. Townsend has been with Apellis since 2018 and has helped “establish a world-class commercial organization,” CEO Cedric Francois said in a statement.

Apellis disclosed these organizational changes during a preview of its fourth-quarter results at the 2025 JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. The company reported $709 million in preliminary full-year U.S. net product revenues, of which $611 million came from its geographic atrophy therapy Syfovre while the remaining $98 million were contributed by Empaveli, which is indicated for paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.

By early 2025, Apellis plans to file for the label expansion of Empvali into two rare kidney diseases, complement 3 glomerulopathy and primary immune complex-mediated membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis.

Barinthus Biotherapeutics
Jan. 14

To cut costs as it prioritizes immunology and inflammation indications, Barinthus Biotherapeutics plans to axe 65% of its employees across its U.K. and Germantown, Maryland, locations, the clinical-stage biopharma announced Jan. 10. The cuts, which include two C-Suite members, are expected to help the company extend its cash runway to the start of 2027.

Barinthus had 130 employees—95 of them in the U.K.—as of Dec. 31, 2023, according to a March SEC filing. However, it let go of 25% of its workforce in mid-2024, meaning the latest planned layoffs may affect about 64 people, leaving the company with fewer than 35 employees.

Alongside the expected staff cuts, Barinthus is also postponing further development of VTP-300 in chronic hepatitis B until it identifies a partner, according to the announcement. It therefore won’t invest in the drug candidate beyond completion of an ongoing Phase IIb HBV003 clinical trial.

The layoffs, which would mostly affect the U.K. workforce and should be completed during the first half of 2025, are subject to consultation with U.K. employee representatives, according to a Jan. 10 SEC filing. If the cuts move forward, they include parting ways with Chief Operating Officer Graham Griffiths and Chief Financial Officer Gemma Brown, effective June 30 and April 30, respectively.

Repare Therapeutics
Jan. 14

As it reprioritizes its pipeline, Repare Therapeutics will cut an unspecified number of staff, the clinical-stage precision oncology company announced Jan. 10. The Quebec-based biotech expects that headcount reductions will help extend its cash runway into mid-2027. It wasn’t clear when the layoffs will be complete.

Repare, which also has a location in Cambridge, Massachusetts, had 179 employees as of Feb. 16, 2024, according to an SEC filing. However, in August, it announced it was letting go of 25% of its workforce, which may have left it with fewer than 135 people prior to these latest cuts.

Repare is reprioritizing its pipeline to focus on continued advancement of its Phase I clinical programs: RP-1664, a PLK4 inhibitor, and RP-3467, a Polθ ATPase inhibitor. The company is evaluating RP-1664 as a monotherapy and RP-3467 alone and in combination with olaparib, a poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor. Repare is also exploring partnerships for continued development of assets across its portfolio, including lunresertib and camonsertib, used in combination in patients with endometrial cancer and platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.

Passage Bio
Jan. 14

To help extend its cash runway into the first quarter of 2027, Passage Bio will slash its workforce by about 55%, the clinical-stage genetic medicines company announced Jan. 10. In an SEC filing, the Philadelphia-based company noted it expects to incur associated severance and exit costs of about $2 million primarily during the second quarter, indicating the staff cuts will happen quickly.

Passage had 58 employees as of Dec. 31, 2023, according to a March SEC filing, meaning the cuts could affect about 32 people, leaving the company with 26 employees. The business has two locations, one in Philadelphia and another in Hopewell Township, New Jersey. It did not say whether the workforce reduction will affect both sites.

The company’s other business moves include transitioning to an outsourced analytical testing model following an assessment of its operating needs to support advancement of its PBFT02 program, according to the announcement.

For more details, read the article.

Y-mAbs Therapeutics
Jan. 13

As part of a realignment that includes establishing two business units, Y-mAbs Therapeutics expects to cut about 13% of its workforce, dependent on whether some employees accept newly created positions, the company announced Jan. 10. The New York–based commercial-stage biopharma had 100 employees, including 63 people in research and development roles, as of Dec. 31, 2023, according to a February SEC filing. That means the layoffs could affect about 13 staffers, leaving the company with 87 employees.

Y-mAbs, which has locations in Nutley, New Jersey, and in Denmark, intends to move some roles from Denmark to the U.S. to more efficiently coordinate advancing its radiopharmaceutical platform, according to the announcement. It will also make a “small adjustment” to the commercial team for Danyelza, its monoclonal antibody for high-risk neuroblastoma in the bone or bone marrow.

Regarding its realignment, the biopharma, which is developing and commercializing novel radioimmunotherapy and antibody-based therapeutic products to treat cancer, will split into radiopharmaceuticals and Danyelza business units. This will help optimize resources and advance Y-mAbs’ novel self-assembly disassembly pretargeted radioimmunotherapy (SADA PRIT) platform programs through clinical development while also driving Danyelza’s commercial growth, according to the announcement. The company designed the SADA PRIT platform in part to improve upon traditional radioimmunotherapy by delivering high therapeutic dose while minimizing off-target exposure.

Generation Bio
Jan. 13

To support clinical development of its T cell–directed medicines, Generation Bio is reorganizing, a move that includes C-suite changes, the Cambridge, Massachusetts–based biotech announced Jan. 6. The company will cut staff in Cambridge by 20% and expects to complete that workforce reduction by the second quarter of 2025, according to a Jan. 6 SEC filing.

Generation Bio had 174 employees as of Dec. 31, 2023, according to a February SEC filing. However, it let go about 40% of its staff during the second quarter of 2024, as reported in multiple SEC filings earlier this year, including one in November. Therefore, with the latest cuts, the company may be laying off another 21 people, leaving it with 83 employees.

In its Jan. 6 announcement, Generation Bio shared it’s moving toward the clinic by deploying its cell-targeted lipid nanoparticle (ctLNP) to develop siRNA therapeutics with the goal of silencing disease-driving targets in T cells. The biotech hopes that by precisely modulating T cell activity in vivo, it can address high-value, undruggable targets involved in the inflammation and tissue damage associated with T cell–driven autoimmune diseases. It plans to submit its first Investigational New Drug (IND) application in the second half of 2026.

As part of its staff cuts, Generation Bio is parting ways with Matthew Stanton as chief science officer and Matthew Norkunas as chief financial officer. Stanton will exit midway through the year and become a scientific advisory board member, according to the announcement. Norkunas’ last day was Jan. 10, according to the Jan. 6 SEC filing.

IGM Biosciences
Jan. 13

IGM Biosciences is cutting 73% of its workforce and stopping development of two autoimmune drug candidates, the biotech announced Jan. 9. Following the news, BMO Capital Markets downgraded the Mountain View, California–based company’s shares from outperform to market perform.

The layoffs will affect 100 employees effective March 10, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice processed Jan. 14. That means the cuts will leave the business with 37 employees.

Regarding its pipeline, IGM is halting work on imvotamab and IGM-2644, bispecific antibody T cell engagers for autoimmune diseases. The biotech is also considering its next business move so it can maximize shareholder value, in part by evaluating “internal options as well as potential strategic alternatives,” according to the release.

For more details, read the article.

Update (Jan. 17): This entry was updated to specify the number of employees being laid off, when the cuts are effective and how many people will remain with the company based on a WARN notice processed after the tracker’s publication.

Intellia

Jan. 10

Intellia Therapeutics is reducing its workforce by around 27% as part of a reorganization program announced on Thursday. The company said it will focus its efforts and resources on high-value programs, specifically its investigational gene editors NTLA-2002 for hereditary angioedema and nexiguran ziclumeran (nex-z) for transthyretin amyloidosis. Intellia had 526 full-time employees as of mid-February 2024, according to an SEC filing.

As part of this strategic pivot, Intellia will discontinue the development of its investigational therapy NTLA-3001, which was originally being tested for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency-associated lung disease. The biotech expects to implement the announced layoffs “over the course of 2025,” as per its news release.

As of the end of 2024, Intellia still had around $862 million in cash, cash equivalents and investments. Thursday’s realignment will cost the company $8 million in one-time expenses, but will help extend its runway into the first half of 2027.

Looking ahead to the rest of the year, Intellia expects to dose the first patients in the respective Phase III studies for NTLA-2002 and nex-z, with an eye toward becoming a “commercial-ready organization by the end of 2026,” according to its Thursday announcement.

Shoreline

Jan. 10

Shoreline Biosciences is laying off a yet-undisclosed number of employees in connection with a cell therapy partnership with Gilead subsidiary Kite, Endpoints News reported on Thursday.

CEO Kleanthis Xanthopoulos confirmed the workforce reduction in a phone interview with Endpoints, but declined to specify how many staffers would be affected. Regarding the partnership with Kite, Xanthopoulos said that its fate was still “to be determined.”

Kite and Shoreline partnered in June 2021, with the pharma subsidiary putting $2.3 billion on the line in upfront and milestone payments to use the biotech’s induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) differentiation and reprogramming platform. According to the news release at the time, the partners would initially focus their efforts on CAR natural killer cell targets, though Kite will have the option to expand the collaboration to include a macrophage program.

Under the terms of the deal, Shoreline is also eligible to royalties.

California-based Shoreline focuses on using what it calls “intelligent engineering” to produce next-generation iPSC-derived natural killer cells and macrophages, which in turn can be harnessed for gene editing.

Scribe

Jan. 9

As it gears up for clinical studies, Scribe Therapeutics on Wednesday confirmed that it will downsize by around 20%, Endpoints News reported.

The layoffs come as Scribe prepares to initiate clinical trials, CEO Ben Oakes told Endpoints. The company has yet to announce a timeline for its entry into the clinic, but Oakes noted that “the technologies we’ve built have continued to prove themselves to be so strong that we can really go quite rapidly from idea to a developable drug.”

Launched in 2020, Scribe was co-founded by Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna and leverages proprietary CRISPR-based drug design and development platforms, including those that can be used to produce genetic and epigenetic editors. Its pipeline includes STX1100, which targets the PCSK9 gene to lower elevated LDL-C levels, and STX1400, designed against APOC3 and being tested for severe hypertriglyceridemia and familial chylomicronemia syndrome.

Scribe is also partnered with Lilly subsidiary Prevail to develop CRISPR-based therapies for neurological and neuromuscular diseases and with Sanofi to advance ex-vivo cell therapies for cancer indications.

Resilience
Jan. 9

San Diego–based Resilience will lay off 120 employees at its Research Triangle Park gene therapy facility in Durham, North Carolina, effective Dec. 15, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice. The contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) is cutting staff based on demand in the gene therapy sector, which requires reducing headcount in some parts of its network, a company spokesperson told Endpoints News.

The Durham layoffs aren’t the only ones Resilience is making this year. The CDMO is also letting go 105 employees from its Alachua, Florida, site beginning in February and continuing through June, according to a December WARN notice.

Resilience bought the Durham facility from bluebird bio in 2021 and added the Alachua location after acquiring Ology Bioservices that same year.

Galapagos
Jan. 9

By mid-2025, Galapagos will split into two entities and cut 40% of its workforce, which is expected to affect about 300 employees across its Europe operations, the Belgium-based biotech announced Jan. 8. As a result of the reorganization, the business plans to close its site in France and decrease staff in Belgium.

The new entities will be a yet-to-be-named innovative medicines specialist and a cell therapy company that will inherit the Galapagos name. The Belgian biotech will also take back the rights to its pipeline from Gilead and discontinue its small molecules program, according to the announcement.

In the press release, Galapagos CEO Paul Stoffels called the separation into two entities a “critical step” for unlocking significant shareholder value, one that will position the company for sustainable growth and future success in its renewed focus on cell therapies.

For more details, read the article.

Cassava
Jan. 8

Cassava Sciences on Tuesday announced that it will lay off 10 employees—accounting for around 33% of its headcount—in an attempt to cut costs. The terminations will take place in the first quarter of 2025.

Aside from the layoffs, Cassava will also employ “continuing strategic expense management efforts,” including halting previously planned biomarker analyses of plasma samples from prior trials. The biotech expects to absorb around $400,000 in one-time costs related to the layoffs. As of December 31, 2024, Cassava had $128.6 million in unaudited cash and cash equivalents.

Tuesday’s announcement comes after Cassava’s Alzheimer’s disease drug candidate simufilam failed the Phase III RETHINK-ALZ trial in November 2024. At the time, the biotech disclosed that simufilam was unable to significantly lower cognitive and functional decline in Alzheimer’s patients, as compared with placebo. RETHINK-ALZ also failed its secondary and exploratory biomarker endpoints.

The readout triggered a massive selloff, sending Cassava’s shares crashing 85% in the aftermath of the failure.

CytomX Therapeutics
Jan. 8

To direct capital resources to its clinical programs and create flexibility in its cost structure, CytomX Therapeutics will cut about 40% of its employees, the San Francisco–based biotech announced Jan. 6. The exact number of people affected is 46, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice, likely leaving the biotech with fewer than 70 employees.

CytomX’s top strategic objective for 2025 is development of CX-2051, an antibody-drug conjugate being developed initially in advanced metastatic colorectal cancer, according to the Jan. 6 announcement. Meanwhile, the biotech has noted some hesitation about CX-904, a T-cell-engaging bispecific antibody it’s working on with Amgen. Plans for Phase Ia completion and potential advancement to Phase Ib are “pending ongoing consideration of 2025 program resourcing given CytomX current capital constraints and discussions with our partner Amgen,” according to the announcement.

For more details, read the article.

Velia
Jan. 7

Velia, a San Diego–based biotech founded in 2021, is shutting down and eliminating its workforce, Endpoints News reported. The company has 47 employees, according to its LinkedIn People page and PitchBook.

In an emailed statement to Endpoints Jan. 6, Velia CEO John McHutchison said, “We are disappointed with this outcome, and also to have to let go of our outstanding team, and we appreciate their valuable contributions at Velia. The decision is unrelated to the therapeutic potential of microproteins, our platform and our scientific progress.”

Endpoints did not report when Velia’s wind-down will be complete.

Oxular
Jan. 3

Following Regeneron’s acquisition of U.K.-based biotech Oxular, which develops retinal treatments, an undetermined number of Oxular employees are losing their jobs, Fierce Biotech reported Jan. 2. A Regeneron spokesperson told Fierce that no Oxular employees will join the New York–based biotech, although some will provide short-term consulting help with tech transfer and transition work.

It’s unclear how many Oxular employees the deal affected. While the biotech’s LinkedIn People page shows 13 “associated members” as of Jan. 3, Fierce reported the company had 20 employees upon acquisition, based on LinkedIn data at that time. The deal closed at the end of 2024, according to Fierce.

Regeneron and Oxular had not announced the acquisition as of early morning Jan. 3. However, Mark Gaffney, a former Oxular board member whose role as CEO ended in June 2024, shared the news Jan. 2 on LinkedIn. In his post, he wrote, “The ophthalmology team at Regeneron is uniquely positioned to maximize the use of Oxular’s proprietary technologies.”

Javara
Dec. 23

Javara, a North Carolina–based clinical research organization, is laying off staff as the company restructures, according to Fierce Biotech. Details about the number of employees being let go was not reported.

“As we look towards the future of Javara, we are focused on becoming even more agile and better equipped to meet the evolving needs of our patients, sites, healthcare partners and sponsor clients,” a Javara spokesperson wrote in an email to the publication. “To reach these goals, we made the decision to reduce operational complexities and simplify select workflows.”

Ring Therapeutics
Dec. 18

Ring Therapeutics has parted ways with “just under 50%” of its employees, a spokesperson told Endpoints News on Wednesday. Ring, a five-year-old Cambridge, Mass.–based Flagship startup focused on gene therapy, now has about 40 staff members left.

“We recently made the decision to focus on Anellobricks, Ring’s proprietary genetic medicine vector platform, which affords exceptional scalability and has the potential to transform genetic medicine,” the spokesperson wrote to Endpoints. “As a result, we have reduced our current staff to ensure we have the right mix of skills and capabilities to continue to grow as our pipeline progresses and we advance toward the clinic.”

Outlook Therapeutics
Dec. 17

Just weeks after announcing disappointing clinical trial results for its ophthalmic drug, Outlook Therapeutics announced it’s cut 23% of its workforce to help reduce costs, extend its cash runway and secure FDA approval of bevacizumab. The Iselin, New Jersey–based biopharma expects the move will save $1.4 million annually, excluding workforce reduction expenses.

Five employees were let go, according to a Dec. 16 SEC filing. The cuts likely leave Outlook with 16 employees.

On Nov. 27, the company announced its NORSE EIGHT clinical trial evaluating bevacizumab in wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) patients had failed to meet the FDA’s prespecified non-inferiority endpoint at week eight. However, Outlook noted that preliminary data showed an improvement in vision, the presence of biologic activity and a continued favorable safety profile.

The company expects to announce additional trial data in January and plans to resubmit a biologics license application in the first quarter of 2025.

While the FDA in 2023 nixed approval for bevacizumab to treat wet AMD, the drug has European Commission marketing authorization. Outlook plans to launch bevacizumab in the European Union and the U.K. in the first half of 2025.

Editas
Dec. 16

Unable to find a development sponsor for its sickle cell disease therapy renizgamglogene autogedtemcel, Editas announced Dec. 12 it will terminate work on the ex vivo therapy and cut about 65% of its employees over the next six months. The move will affect several members of the company’s management team, including Chief Medical Officer Baisong Mei.

The biotech expects these adjustments will extend its runway into the second quarter of 2027.

Moving forward, Editas will focus its resources and expertise on developing in vivo CRISPR-editing assets. This pivot will capitalize on recent preclinical findings in various tissues.

For more details, read the article.

Bavarian Nordic

Dec. 12

Denmark-based vaccine maker Bavarian Nordic will close its San Diego research and development (R&D) site and lay off 48 employees there, according to a Dec. 9 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice. There’ll be two rounds of layoffs—with the first effective Dec. 13 and the second on or about March 31—and the site will close on or about April 1.

Bavarian acquired the San Diego facility from Emergent BioSolutions in 2023 as part of a deal that gave the vaccine maker Emergent’s travel health business. In addition to the R&D site, Bavarian received the rights to Vivotif, a typhoid vaccine; Vaxchora, a cholera vaccine; and CHIKV VLP, a chikungunya vaccine candidate that’s now in Phase III clinical development.

The company also announced this week that it plans to buy back up to 150 million Danish kroner ($21 million) of its shares. Bavarian stated the decision should be viewed in the context of “improved visibility” around its travel health business, citing events including the near-term completion of the integration of assets from Emergent. That integration, Bavarian stated, includes a “final restructuring” of the R&D organization, which it expects will generate annual savings of 50 million to 75 million Danish kroner ($7 million to $10.5 million).

Once the San Diego site closes, Bavarian’s remaining U.S. presence will be its U.S. subsidiary in Durham, North Carolina.

BenevolentAI

Dec. 12

BenevolentAI will cut its workforce as part of a strategic overhaul aimed at streamlining operations, reducing costs and returning to its core mission of technology in service of science, the company announced Dec. 11. The London-based business did not share how many people the workforce reduction will affect.

The layoffs are not BenevolentAI’s first employee cuts. In May 2023, the company announced it would let go about 180 people as part of a reorganization designed to optimize its pipeline and technology platforms to reduce costs and maximize value for stakeholders. In April 2024, BenevolentAI announced it would cut 30% of staff. It also closed its U.S. office.

Moving forward, the company will focus on creating standalone products that meet its partners’ drug development needs, Kenneth Mulvany, executive chairman, founder and activist shareholder, said in the announcement. He noted that BenevolentAI’s new strategic direction “builds on our strengths, empowering the biopharma industry with cutting-edge AI technologies backed by our compelling industry and patient proof points.”

Based on anticipated savings from streamlined operational efforts, the company expects to extend its cash runway into 2027.

Chroma Medicine and Nvelop Therapeutics

Dec. 12

As part of Massachusetts-based Chroma Medicine and Nvelop Therapeutics’ merger, an unspecified number of employees will be laid off due to areas of redundancies and overlap, Fierce Biotech reported.

Boston-based Chroma and Cambridge-based Nvelop announced their merger Dec. 11. The combined entity, nChroma Bio, has secured $75 million in new financing. That money, in addition to the cash on hand for both companies at the time of the deal, will provide multiple years of runway, according to the announcement.

The funds will also aid continued development of nChroma’s epigenetic editing platform and advance lead candidate CRMA-1001 into the clinic and to key data readouts. CRMA-1001 is a liver-targeted epigenetic editing therapy intended to treat chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis D coinfection.

Cellectar Biosciences
Dec. 11

Cellectar Biosciences on Tuesday kicked off a strategic reprioritization initiative that will involve an “immediate reduction in headcount” of 60%. The biotech expects to complete the layoffs in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The move follows the biotech’s communications with FDA regarding its cancer drug candidate iopofosine I 131. The regulator had indicated in early 2024 that Cellectar could seek accelerated approval for iopofosine I 131 using the company’s ongoing CLOVER WaM trial. Now, however, the FDA has said the biotech will need to run an additional randomized and controlled confirmatory study to support a regulatory application.

In light of this change in requirements, Cellectar has decided to pursue strategic opportunities to support the further development and commercialization of iopofosine I 131. “We have determined that such a program may best be brought to market by a larger organization with greater resources,” CEO James Caruso said in a statement.

Cellectar expects the restructuring effort to extend its cash runway into the third quarter of 2025.

Carisma Therapeutics
Dec. 10

As part of a strategic restructuring that includes reprioritizing its pipeline to focus on fibrosis, oncology and autoimmune disease therapies, Carisma Therapeutics will lay off 34% of its employees, the Philadelphia-based biopharma announced Dec. 9. The cuts includes 23 full-time employees, including three executives and research and development staff, according to a Dec. 9 SEC filing.

The company also underwent a workforce reduction earlier this year. In April, Carisma announced it would cut staff by about 37% during the second quarter. According to an April 1 SEC filing, the company had 107 full-time employees as of Dec. 31. This would likely leave Carisma with 44 full-time employees once the latest cuts are complete.

In addition to its workforce reduction, Carisma’s strategic restructuring includes ending development of CT-0525, a gene-modified autologous chimeric antigen receptor-monocyte (CAR-M) cellular therapy intended to treat solid tumors that overexpress human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) metastasis.

For more details, read the article.

Belharra Therapeutics
Dec. 10

Belharra Therapeutics, a San Diego–based startup working on small molecule oncology and immunology drugs, has cut 21 employees, leaving it with 30 people, down from 52 in June, Endpoints News reported on Dec. 9.

The employee cuts are expected to allow Belharra to extend its runway to achieve “key inflection points” while alleviating capital raise pressures, according to a spokesperson’s emailed statement to Endpoints. That spokesperson also wrote that the biotech will continue advancing its lead programs and working with partners Genentech and Sanofi.

Belharra announced its partnership with Sanofi in June, stating that the collaboration would leverage Belharra’s non-covalent chemoproteomics platform to identify and advance small molecules against undisclosed Sanofi-designated immunology targets. BioSpace named the move one of the top immunology and inflammation deals of 2024 at that time. Belharra is eligible to receive up to nearly $700 million in aggregate research, development and commercial milestone payments and royalties on net sales.

Belharra launched in January 2023 with $130 million in total funding that included $80 million upfront from Genentech, with whom it had inked a multiyear partnership. The biotech also received $50 million in Series A financing from Versant Ventures. In January, BioSpace named Belharra to its NextGen Bio Class of 2024 list, which recognized the hottest new life sciences companies in the U.S.

December 9

National Resilience on Friday announced that it is laying off 105 employees from its site in Alachua, Florida, as part of a strategic refocusing initiative.

The affected employees will start being let go in February 2025, with terminations to continue through June of next year. In a statement to Fierce Pharma, a Resilience spokesperson said that the CDMO is downsizing its Florida presence “to focus more strategically on commercial development and manufacturing to meet customers’ demands and patients’ needs.”

Resilience will continue to fulfill its contract obligations with the customers of the Florida site, according to the spokesperson.

Resilience came to own the Alachua facility after it bought Ology Bioservices in April 2021. The site primarily produces drugs and biologics for commercial clients as well as the U.S. government. At the time of the acquisition deal, it had won more than $1.8 billion in government contracts.

Also on Friday, Resilience named William Marth as its new CEO.

December 9

AmplifyBio is closing up shop in South San Francisco as it lays off an unspecified number of employees in the region and terminates its R&D and characterization services, according to a report from Fierce Biotech on Friday.

Some of the work in the shuttered site will move to the manufacturer’s new facility in Ohio, a company spokesperson told Fierce, adding that these changes will allow AmplifyBio to “integrate early drug discovery and characterization more seamlessly” with its manufacturing activities. The reorganization will also help the CDMO lower overhead costs and provide its services “at more market-competitive prices,” according to the spokesperson.

AmplifyBio is a preclinical contract research organization and manufacturing service provider that provides discovery, characterization and optimization services, as well as in vitro and in vivo safety studies. Its work includes several treatment modalities, such as small molecule drugs, mRNA therapies and cell and gene treatments.

December 5

A week after announcing a strategic operational alignment that includes shifting two California manufacturing facilities’ focus to contract biologics manufacturing, Agenus has announced employee cuts are on the way. The Lexington, Massachusetts–based immuno-oncology company did not offer details on the layoffs, such as how many people they’ll affect or which locations they’ll involve.

According to a March SEC filing, Agenus had 389 employees as of the beginning of that month. In addition to its Lexington headquarters, the company also has sites in Berkeley, Emeryville and Vacaville, California, and in Cambridge, England.

In its Dec. 5 announcement, Agenus noted it will concentrate resources on its lead botensilimab/balstilimab (BOT/BAL) program, which has “demonstrated robust clinical activity” in several types of cancer, including microsatellite stable colorectal cancer (MSS CRC). That regimen made the news earlier this year, when the FDA advised against the company applying for accelerated approval for BOT/BAL to treat relapsed/refractory MSS CRC without active liver metastases.

As Agenus moves forward with advancing BOT/BAL through clinical development and preparing for global regulatory submissions, it’s also working on significant cost reductions, as noted in its Dec. 5 announcement. The company is targeting a 60% cut in annual expenditures and hopes to lower its fiscal year 2025 cash burn to about $100 million. Agenus also recently secured a $22 million mortgage to boost its cash reserves.

December 3

Swedish biotech Alligator Bioscience on Dec. 2 announced that it will lay off 70% of its employees in a sweeping strategic re-evaluation campaign.

After the workforce reduction, the company will be down to 15 full-time staff. The layoffs, which are still subject to negotiation with trade unions, will mainly affect employees working in discovery and other nonclinical posts. Alligator expects the restructuring to lower its operating expenses by around $5.9 million annually.

In its press release, the biotech cited its “current capital constraints” as the reason for the strategic restructuring. Alligator also noted that all but one of its assets are now “under strategic evaluation.” The company will focus all of its resources on its lead asset mitazalimab, an anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody being assessed for the first-line treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer.

For more details, read the article.

December 2

As part of cost-cutting measures while it looks to sell the global rights to hypertension drug aprocitentan, Idorsia Pharmaceuticals is considering cutting up to 270 positions globally, the company announced last week. The biotech expects those cuts to mainly affect its research and development and support functions at its headquarters near Basel, Switzerland. The company has one U.S. site, located in Radnor, Pennsylvania.

Regarding the global rights to aprocitentan, sold in the U.S. as Tryvio, Idorsia has entered into exclusive negotiations with an undisclosed company. As part of those discussions, the biotech noted it will receive a $35 million exclusivity fee that will extend its cash runway into 2025.

According to Idorsia, the agreement under discussion could include an upfront payment, milestone payments and tiered royalties on sales in return for the transfer of global rights to the drug and some company employees. The biotech hopes to sign the agreement before the end of this year and close the deal in early 2025.

Idorsia spun out of Johnson & Johnson’s $30 billion acquisition of Actelion in 2017. In March, the company received FDA approval for Tryvio, an asset J&J gave back to the biotech in September 2023.

November 27

Kronos Bio on Wednesday announced that it will trim its headcount by approximately 83% by the end of the year, as part of a previously announced cost-cutting campaign.

Kronos had 62 full-time employees—and one part-time staff member—as of March 11, 2024, according to an SEC filing. After the layoffs, the California-based biotech will have around 10 staff left. President and CEO Norbert Bischofberger is also stepping down from his role, effective Dec. 3, and will be succeeded by current COO and CFO Deborah Knobelman. Bischofberger will stay on Kronos’ Board of Directors.

The company first announced its corporate overhaul earlier this month, alongside its third-quarter 2024 business report. At the time, Kronos said that it was exploring strategic alternatives moving forward, which could include a merger or reverse merger, an acquisition or other business combination, sales of its assets or other strategic transactions.

Kronos also at the time terminated the development of its CDK9 inhibitor istisociclib after disappointing Phase I/II data in platinum-resistant high-grade serous ovarian cancer.

November 27

Amidst a years-long restructuring effort, Novartis on Tuesday announced it will lay off nearly 140 more employees from in its New Jersey site, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) update.

The layoffs will start in February 2025 and run through August. In a statement to Fierce Pharma, a company spokesperson confirmed the cuts and said that it will primarily affect commercial field sales teams for Xolair, Tafinlar and Mekinist. The spokesperson nevertheless maintained that these medicines will remain available to patients.

Novartis in April 2022 announced a massive business transformation initiative, with an eye toward saving around $1 billion in operations costs through 2024. This effort included thousands of layoffs—in June 2022, the pharma announced that up to 8,000 jobs were on the chopping block. In September 2023, Novartis also confirmed plans to spin off its generics unit Sandoz.

The layoffs come as Novartis ramps up its pipeline investments, including the potentially $1.1 billion acquisition of gene therapy specialist Kate Therapeutics to deepen its neuromuscular expertise, and the a radiopharma deal with Ratio Therapeutics, which could reach up to $745 million.

November 27

Just months after revealing its merger with fellow AI leader Exscientia, Recursion Therapeutics on Tuesday announced that it will lay off dozens of employees to minimize redundancies, according to a STAT News report.

Citing a source who had been terminated, STAT noted that cuts were made across both Recursion and Exscientia. Spokesperson Ryan Kelly confirmed the workforce reduction, disclosing that less than 20% of employees were affected. Together, Recursion and Exscientia had a headcount of around 800, according to a press release last week announcing the completion of the acquisition agreement.

“With any merger, there are bound to be some redundancies and leadership changes,” Kelly told STAT.

Recursion and Exscientia first announced the merger in August 2024, which created a combined company carrying Recursion’s name with around $850 million in cash and cash equivalents—plus $100 million in annual synergies—which could support the combined entity into 2027. Both companies also have outstanding contracts that could yield additional milestone payments from powerhouse partners, including Sanofi, Merck KGaA, Roche and Bayer.

In total, the combined company is looking at more than 10 clinical and preclinical pipeline programs, on top of 10 advanced discovery programs and over 10 partnered programs. Many trials of its clinical candidates are expected to read out in the next 18 months.

November 26

Medigene on Tuesday kicked off a broad organizational realignment campaign as it struggles to find the resources to support its operations into 2026.

Part of this program is a steep workforce reduction. Around 40% of the German biotech’s employees will be let go in 2025—a “difficult decision to make,” according to CEO Selwyn Ho, who nevertheless noted that the layoffs are “a necessary step to ensure the long-term success of Medigene.”

The company will retain employees whose roles are critical for its new direction of focusing on R&D activities with the greatest potential for return on investment, as per the biotech’s news release.

Medigene on Tuesday also maintained its full-year 2024 guidance, including its prior estimation that its current cash runway will keep it afloat into July 2025. “The Company continues to evaluate all appropriate financing and strategic options to advance its cash runway into 2026 and beyond,” according to the news release.

In 2025, Medigene will focus its resources on the development of T-cell receptor (TCR)-guided therapies, optimized for sensitivity, specificity and safety, designed specifically for use in off-the-shelf modalities. The biotech will also prioritize its TCR-guided T cell engager MDG3010 in partnership with WuXi Biologics.

November 26

Alector will let go of 41 employees—or around 17% of its total headcount—after revealing disappointing Phase II findings for its Alzheimer’s disease antibody AL002 on Monday.

The layoffs are part of a sweeping realignment initiative, which Alector will implement to better align its resources with its new strategic priorities. Moving forward, the biotech will focus on its progranulin programs latozinemab and AL101/GSK4527226, which are being developed for frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, respectively.

In connection with the workforce reduction, Alector expects to absorb a one-time cost of $3.9 million, associated mostly with severance payments and other related expenses. According to an SEC filing on Monday, the layoffs will take place in the first half of 2025.

As of September 30, 2024, Alector had $457.2 million in cash, cash equivalents and investments, which the biotech expects will give it enough runway through 2026.

Alector was down 31% in after-hours trading on Monday, in reaction to its Alzheimer’s readout.

November 26

As part of its drive to lower expenditure by around $1.5 billion through 2025, Bristol Myers Squibb announced plans to lay off around 195 more employees from its Lawrenceville, New Jersey sites.

The terminations will start on Feb. 13, 2025 and run through the end of next year, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification record. This latest round of workforce reductions brings BMS’s layoff total to nearly 1,330 this year. The job cuts started in March 2024, with 75 employees terminated. The pharma’s largest layoff round came in May 2024 and affected nearly 780 members of its staff.

BMS first announced its sweeping strategic initiative alongside its first-quarter earnings report in April 2024, noting that it plans to reduce management layers and streamline decision-making throughout the company. Core to this push is a headcount reduction of around 2,200 by the end of the year.

The pharma then intends to use its savings to prioritize R&D programs with the greatest return-on-investment potential, as well as those that could set it up for long-term growth. CEO Chris Boerner said at the time that these business adjustments will help BMS become “more agile” and “drive efficiency across the company.”

The cost cuts appear to be working. In both Q2 and Q3, the pharma beat analyst expectations, with revenues buoyed by the strong sales of products such as Eliquis and Opdivo. The pharma has also consistently raised its full-year earnings guidance—further evidence of the business’ robust performance.

November 22

To streamline its organization around its most immediate priorities, Sonata Therapeutics is parting with about 20 employees, Fierce Biotech reported. A spokesperson at the Watertown, Massachusetts, biotech told Fierce that in addition to the layoffs, founding team member Volker Herrmann is no longer leading the company. Chairman David Khougazian is now acting CEO.

Sonata did not tell Fierce whether it would deprioritize any of its programs. The company has been developing a new class of therapeutics—which it calls network medicines—meant to reprogram diseased cells to release therapeutic signals. In March, Sonata announced a research collaboration with Champalimaud Foundation to develop SNT-3012, the biotech’s novel network medicine intended to treat pancreatic and colorectal cancers.

According to PitchBook, Sonata has 54 employees and five investors, including Flagship Pioneering and Altitude Life Science Ventures. The company launched in 2022 after two Flagship companies, Inzen Therapeutics and Cygnal Therapeutics, combined.

November 22

Shortly after announcing it’s laying off more than 200 employees, 23andMe filed Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notices indicating it’s letting go 153 employees in California and closing its South San Francisco location. The staff cuts are likely part of the previously announced workforce reduction.

According to the Nov. 19 WARN notices, the genetic testing company will trim its workforce by 122 employees in Sunnyvale and 31 employees in South San Francisco, effective Jan. 10. The 65,340-square-foot South San Francisco location, listed as 23andMe’s headquarters in a May SEC filing, will close.

23andMe announced it’s letting go more than 200 people Nov. 11, when it also shared that it is discontinuing development of new therapies to focus on genetic testing services and products. The company is exploring strategic opportunities for its therapeutic pipeline that could include licensing agreements, asset sales or other transactions.

November 21

Due to growing competition from rivals in China, Johnson & Johnson and Merck are letting go employees in that country, BNN Bloomberg reported, crediting Chinese media outlets as the first to cover the cuts. The J&J layoffs mainly affect a division that sells products used in surgery, while Merck is trimming its diabetes unit, sources told BNN Bloomberg.

Chinese media outlets reported the J&J cuts will affect as much as a fifth of the pharma’s mainland workforce. A company spokesperson told BNN Bloomberg that J&J “has recently implemented organizational changes to optimise our business operations.” BNN Bloomberg did not report the number of employees affected at Merck.

The layoffs in China are not the only ones affecting the J&J workforce as 2024 winds down. The company is also letting go 231 employees at its New Brunswick, New Jersey, headquarters. Those cuts are effective Dec. 27.

November 18

Gilead Sciences will let go 104 employees at its Foster City, California, headquarters effective March 14, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice. The cuts are likely part of an unspecified number of layoffs the company confirmed to BioSpace Nov. 14 that involve the company and its subsidiary, Kite Pharma. A Gilead spokesperson attributed the workforce reductions to the business making changes to further align resources with long-term strategic goals, which includes relocating some teams.

Gilead’s layoffs that will be effective in 2025 are now known to involve at least two states, as a Washington WARN notice revealed that 72 employees in Seattle will be let go starting Jan. 17. That site, which focuses on the company’s research and clinical development activities, is closing. Kite Pharma, meanwhile, will shut down its Philadelphia facility by the middle of 2025, Fierce Biotech reported last week.

For more details about the Gilead and Kite layoffs, read the article.

November 18

As it redefines itself into what CEO Adrian Rawcliffe last week called a “sarcoma-focused business,” Adaptimmune is reducing its workforce by approximately 33% in the first quarter of 2025.

The layoffs are part of a wider cost-cutting program that the biotech expects will lower its total operating expenses by around 25% in the first year of implementation. Under this savings initiative, Adaptimmune will also end enrollment in the Phase II SURPASS-3 trial of uza-cel, its next-generation investigational TCR T cell therapy being trialed for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.

Adaptimmune’s business realignment comes after it last week announced a pivotal win for its TCR T cell therapy lete-cel in advanced or metastatic synovial sarcoma or myxoid/round cell liposarcoma. In the IGNYTE-ESO study, 42% of the 64 treated patients responded to lete-cel, including six who achieved complete response. Median duration of response reached 18.3 months in synovial sarcoma patients.

From 2025 to 2028, Adaptimmune expects its aggregate savings to reach around $300 million, excluding one-time costs associated with the terminations. This money will allow the biotech to focus on its synovial sarcoma business, including the launch of Tecelra (afamitresgene autoleucel) and the development of lete-cel. Adaptimmune projects combined U.S. peak year sales of $400 million for both assets.

Adaptimmune employed 449 staffers by the end of 2023, according to its year-end report.

November 15

Gilead Sciences and subsidiary Kite Pharma are laying off employees, including 72 people effective Jan. 17 at Gilead’s Seattle location, which will close, according to a Nov. 13 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice. That site focuses on the Foster City, Calif.–based biopharma’s research and clinical development activities.

In addition, Fierce Biotech reported that Santa Monica, California–based Kite Pharma, which focuses on cell therapy to treat and cure cancer, will close its Philadelphia facility by the middle of 2025.

A Gilead spokesperson confirmed Gilead and Kite’s layoffs to BioSpace Nov. 14 but did not specify the number of employees affected. The spokesperson attributed the layoffs to the business making changes to further align resources with long-term strategic goals, which includes relocating some teams.

For more details, read the article.

November 14

To focus its resources on advancing clinical development of SNS-101, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, Sensei Biotherapeutics will cut 46% of its workforce, the clinical-stage biotech announced Nov. 14. The Rockville, Maryland–based company will also close its research site in Rockville. The moves are expected to extend Sensei’s cash runway into the second quarter of 2026.

According to the announcement, most of Sensei’s employee cuts will come in its preclinical research and development group. A Nov. 14 SEC filing stated the company should mostly complete the workforce reduction by the end of 2024. Once the layoffs are complete, the biotech could have about 15 employees given it had 27 full-time employees and one part-time staff member as of Feb. 23, according to a Feb. 22 SEC filing.

Sensei’s SNS-101 inhibitor is a conditionally active antibody designed to selectively target the immune checkpoint VISTA (V-domain Ig suppressor of T cell Activation) within the tumor microenvironment. The company is conducting a multicenter Phase I/II clinical trial of SNS-101 as a monotherapy and in combination with Regeneron’s PD-1 inhibitor Libtayo in patients with advanced solid tumors.

Sensei noted in the Nov. 14 announcement that it received preliminary guidance from the FDA on the dose optimization strategy for SNS-101 and plans to re-engage with the agency following additional data from the dose expansion portion of the Phase I/II clinical trial.

November 14

Just weeks after sharing disappointing Phase III results for ganaxolone to treat seizures associated with tuberous sclerosis complex, Marinus Pharmaceuticals has let go about 45% of its employees, the company announced Nov. 12.

It’s the second known layoff this year for the commercial-stage pharma in Radnor, Pennsylvania. In May, Marinus revealed it would trim its workforce by about 20%. In October, it stated it would cut an unspecified number of employees. The November layoffs appear to be the culmination of that cut.

Marinus had 165 full-time employees as of Dec. 31, according to a March SEC filing. As a result of the May and November cuts, the company could have about 73 employees remaining.

For more details, read the article.

November 13

For the second time in a year and in conjunction with a refocused pipeline, Orna Therapeutics has laid off employees, STAT News reported. The biotech based in Watertown, Massachusetts, confirmed the layoffs to STAT but did not say how many jobs it cut.

In November 2023, Orna let go less than a quarter of its staff, Endpoints News reported at the time. Regarding this month’s layoffs, spokesperson Peg Rusconi told STAT, “We believe that realigning our resources toward rapidly advancing our maturing panCAR programs will best position us to deliver our potentially breakthrough therapies to patients in need.”

STAT noted the biotech, which designs circular RNA therapeutics, will also focus on the vaccine collaboration with Merck announced in 2022.

Aimed at treating autoimmune and oncology diseases, Orna’s in vivo CAR platform panCAR combines its oRNA technology with proprietary lipid nanoparticles to make therapies that modify immune cells. The company hopes to bring its panCAR drug candidates to clinical trials by 2026, according to its website.

November 12
Genetic testing company 23andMe announced Nov. 11 that it will lay off more than 200 employees—about 40% of its workforce—as part of a sweeping business restructuring effort to streamline its operations and cut costs. That restructuring includes discontinuing its development of new therapies, instead focusing on its genetic testing services and products.

The employee cuts will cost the Sunnyvale, California, business up to $12 million in severance, transition and termination-related costs. In return, 23andMe expects to generate over $35 million in annualized savings.

For more details, read the article.

November 11

Thermo Fisher Scientific will lay off 160 employees across three Massachusetts locations, according to a Nov. 7 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice. The Wilmington-based tools and services company is letting go staff in Lexington, Plainville and Cambridge between Jan. 6, 2025, and Nov. 6, 2026. Thermo Fisher will close the Lexington facility, the Boston Business Journal reported.

As of Dec. 31, Thermo Fisher employed about 122,000 people globally, including 61,000 in the Americas, according to a February SEC filing. The Boston Business Journal stated the company had about 4,100 employees in Massachusetts as of September.

Thermo Fisher’s 50,000-square-foot, $90 million contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) site in Lexington opened in 2019. At that time, it was expected to add more than 200 jobs, employing scientists, quality control specialists and production teams to support development, testing and manufacture of viral vectors.

According to the Boston Business Journal, in a letter to the state explaining the cuts, Thermo Fisher wrote that it continuously evaluates its global operations for opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness in meeting customers’ needs. It added that to further use its state-of the-art Plainville facility and better optimize resources across its manufacturing network, as well as due to “external constraints regarding our Cambridge site,” it would adjust staffing in Cambridge and Plainville, cease operations in Lexington and transfer programs from Lexington to Plainville.

The 290,000-square-foot Plainville location provides comprehensive viral vector services ranging from process development to commercial manufacturing.

November 11

Charles River Laboratories has laid off more than 6% of its employees—over 1,300 people—since 2023, Endpoints News reported following the Wilmington, Massachusetts–based company’s Nov. 6 earnings call. The company also shared during the call that it’s begun to close or consolidate 15 smaller sites to consolidate capacity that’s no longer needed given lower demand for its products and services, according to Endpoints. Those locations focus on its discovery and safety assessment and regulatory management services.

While Endpoints requested additional details about the closures, Charles River did not say which locations are shutting down or if staff cuts are involved.

In September, Charles River confirmed to BioSpace that it was laying off 3% of its employees, saying in an emailed statement that it was reducing its workforce and streamlining its cost structure to optimize its footprint, more effectively support clients and drive greater operating efficiencies. An SEC filing stated the company had about 21,800 employees as of Dec. 30, so that workforce reduction may have affected about 650 people.

November 7
As part of a strategic restructuring to grow its lupus nephritis drug Lupkynis and rapidly develop its autoimmune disease candidate AUR200, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals is cutting about 45% of its employees, the company announced Nov. 7. The Edmonton, Alberta–based biopharma company, which has a U.S. commercial hub in Rockville, Maryland, did not say which locations the layoffs affect or when they’ll be complete.

This is the second known workforce reduction this year for Aurinia. In February, the company announced it would cut at least 25% of its employees during the first quarter. That news came after Aurinia failed to find a buyer, Fierce Biotech reported.

In its Nov. 7 announcement, Aurinia stated the restructuring will improve operational efficiency and should save the company more than $40 million in annualized cash-based operating expenses. The business also noted net product revenue of $158.6 million for the first nine months of 2024. Its full-year guidance range is $210 million to $220 million for the fiscal year.

November 7

Just months after cutting 23% of its workforce, Viracta Therapeutics let go of 42% of employees as it increased focus on lead product candidate nana-val in lymphoma patients. The Cardiff, Calif., biotech announced the latest layoffs Nov. 6. An SEC filing that same day stated the cuts were effective Oct. 31.

The company’s board makeup also decreased Oct. 31 with the voluntary resignations of 4 of its 10 directors, according to the announcement.

Viracta had 40 full-time employees as of March 31, as stated in a May SEC filing. Based on cutting 23% of staff in August and 42% in October, the biotech now has about 18 employees.

For more details, read the story.

November 6
As Astellas Gene Therapies continues to wind down its San Francisco biomanufacturing facility, the Astellas Pharma business is laying off 10 employees there effective Jan. 1, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice.

The facility closure is expected to be complete by March 2025, affecting about 100 employees. How many of those employees are being let go is unknown, but cuts date back a few months. Seven people were laid off effective Oct. 21, and 10 were cut effective June 19.

Astellas Gene Therapies will move the San Francisco biomanufacturing facility’s programs and projects to its Sanford, North Carolina, location.

For more details about the closure, read the article.

November 5

As a result of a pipeline shift and other changes intended to extend its cash runway, Sana Biotechnology is laying off employees, the company announced Nov. 4. The Seattle-based company did not specify the number of cuts, when they will occur or which sites are affected. The biotech has locations in Seattle, San Francisco and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

As of Dec. 31, Sana had 328 employees, 251 of whom were involved in research and development activities, according to a February SEC filing.

The layoff news comes roughly a year after Sana downsized its staff by about 120 employees—29%—as it focused resources on its hypoimmune platform. That October 2023 workforce reduction was preceded by layoffs of an unknown number of staff in August 2023.

For more details, read the article.

November 4
As part of its previously announced layoffs, Sage Therapeutics let go 69 employees in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Oct. 31, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice. The Cambridge-based biotech had announced on Oct. 17 that it would cut over 165 employees, or about 33% of its workforce, a move it expected to mostly compete by the end of the year.

The workforce reduction is part of a strategic reorganization of Sage’s business operations, affecting about 55% of the company’s R&D workforce and five members of its leadership team. The biotech announced the reorganization about a week after it shared it had discontinued development of dalzanemdor in Alzheimer’s disease.

For more details about the overall employee cuts, read the article.

October 31

Compass Pathways will delay pivotal Phase III readouts for its psilocybin-based therapy for treatment-resistant depression, resulting in a layoff of around 30% of its workforce, the psychedelic drug developer announced Oct. 31. The cuts will include some management positions.

Compass had 32 employees at the end of December 2023, 19 of whom were primarily involved in research and development and clinical activities, according to an SEC filing.

The company, which revealed the delays in its third quarter business update, had expected data from a first Phase III trial, COMP005, this quarter, according to Fierce Biotech. Compass has now shifted that timeline to the second quarter of 2025. The company had also anticipated data from a second Phase III trial, COMP006, around the middle of 2025, Fierce reported. This readout has now been pushed back to the second half of 2026.

For more details, read the article.

October 30

As part of a restructuring following the suspension of its development program for an antibiotic candidate, Spero Therapeutics will lay off about 39% of its workforce, the company announced Oct. 29. The clinical-stage biopharma expects to mostly complete the cuts by end of the year, according to an Oct. 29 SEC filing.

As of Dec. 31, Spero had 46 employees, 30 of whom were mostly handling R&D activities, as noted in a March 13 SEC filing. If the Cambridge, Massachusetts, business has the same number of employees now, the cuts could affect about 18 people.

Regarding its antibiotic candidate, Spero shared that an interim analysis of the Phase IIa study of SPR720, a treatment being investigated for nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease, did not meet the primary endpoint.

For more details, read the article.

October 28

After announcing a revenue shortfall, Dublin-based contract research organization (CRO) ICON signaled during an investor call that layoffs are coming, Fierce Biotech reported. In the Oct. 24 call, the company’s CEO, Steve Cutler, shared the business is “looking at where we have an excess of people in certain areas” and “taking fairly decisive actions.” ICON has locations in 45 countries, including the U.S., where it has offices in 11 states.

ICON’s third-quarter revenue of $2.03 million, a 1.2% year-over-year decrease, failed to meet expectations for three reasons, according to the company’s earnings announcement. The CRO cited material headwinds from two large customers undergoing budget cuts and development model changes; lower than anticipated vaccine-related activity; and “ongoing cautiousness” from biotech customers, resulting in award and study delays.

The company also noted in its announcement that it expects an “outlook for growth over the medium term” and that its year-to-date revenue is $6.24 million, a year-over-year increase of 3.1%, or 3.2% on a constant currency basis.

October 25

Following a disappointing Phase III trial of ganaxolone to treat seizures associated with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), Marinus Pharmaceuticals is laying off employees as part of cost-cutting measures, the company announced Oct. 24. The commercial-stage pharma is also discontinuing further clinical development of the drug and exploring strategic alternatives with the goal of “maximizing value for stockholders,” according to the announcement.

Radnor, Pennsylvania–based Marinus did not specify how many people it’s letting go or when the layoffs are effective. The company had 165 full-time employees as of Dec. 31, according to a March SEC filing. However, that number is likely lower now, as Marinus announced in May that it would reduce its workforce by about 20% as part of cost-cutting measures at that time.

In its Oct. 24 announcement, Marinus noted that the Phase III TrustTSC trial evaluating oral ganaxolone did not meet the primary endpoint of percent change in 28-day TSC-associated seizure frequency. It added that while reductions in seizure frequency favored the ganaxolone arm, the primary endpoint failed to achieve statistical significance.

October 23

At Pfizer, another group of employees is paying the price for the company’s recent Phase III Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) failure.

The layoffs, which will affect 75 workers at Pfizer’s Sanford, North Carolina, site, come four months after the company’s investigational DMD therapy, fordadistrogene movaparvovec, failed to meet the primary efficacy endpoint in a Phase III trial. Pfizer said the cuts are related to that trial failure, according to Fierce Pharma.

This latest wave of layoffs follows the elimination of 150 positions in Sanford immediately after the Phase III DMD readout. This is also the second round of layoffs in as many weeks at Pfizer after the company handed out 80 layoff notices at its McPherson, Kansas, facility on Oct. 16 and Oct. 17.

October 22

Pfizer handed out 80 layoff notices last Wednesday and Thursday at its McPherson, Kansas, facility, where around 1,800 people are employed, multiple local outlets reported. According to ABC affiliate KAKE News, the cuts affect positions in management and engineering but not in production.

“Following the announcement of our margin assessment program in May 2024, we’ve conducted a series of these evaluations focused on operational efficiencies and network optimization,” Pfizer said in a statement sent to the publication. “Based on these evaluations, we have aligned headcount with our site capacity designs to meet the needs of the business.”

There will be a meeting this week for those affected, Tucky Allen, Kansas WorkforceONE, told KSN News, noting that Pfizer reached out to his organization before announcing the layoffs, so his team could meet with laid-off employees and help them find new jobs, which could include placements within Pfizer. Allen told KSN that more and more manufacturing companies are making such cuts. “This time of year seasonally is obviously a time when employers will do their internal audits and see what their staffing looks like,” Allen said.

This is Pfizer’s second round of layoffs this month. At the beginning of October, The Irish Times reported that the company will eliminate up to 210 manufacturing jobs across sites in Grange Castle, Newbridge and Ringaskiddy, Ireland. Pfizer has not formally announced either round of cuts.

October 21

Takeda will lay off 45 employees at its Cambridge location and another 34 at its Lexington site between late September 2024 and March 2025, according to an Oct. 15 WARN notice. The announcement comes at the same time that the company decided to terminate its work on Wave’s WVE-003 clinical-stage Huntington’s disease program—a potential $5 billion commercial opportunity, according to the biotech.

This is the latest in a string of layoffs this year from Takeda. In July, the company let go of 220 employees in Massachusetts (189 Cambridge employees and 31 in Lexington). In May, the company separately announced layoffs of 641 in the state (495 in Cambridge and 146 in Lexington) and the shuttering of a San Diego R&D hub that employed 324 people. And in March, Takeda said 190 employees would lose their jobs as a result of shuttering R&D and manufacturing operations at a facility in Orth an der Donau, Austria.

In total, Takeda has now laid off or announced plans to lay off more than 1,300 employees so far in 2024.

October 17

About a week after announcing it’s discontinuing the development of dalzanemdor in Alzheimer’s disease comes news that Sage Therapeutics will lay off over 165 employees, or about 33% of its workforce.

The workforce reduction is part of a strategic reorganization of the company’s business operations, according to Sage’s Oct. 17 announcement. The cuts will include roughly 55% of the Cambridge, Massachusetts–based biotech’s R&D workforce and five members of its leadership team. The company expects to mostly complete the layoffs by the end of 2024.

According to Sage, the reorganization is meant to support the ongoing launch of Zurzuvae in postpartum depression and focus pipeline development efforts for drug candidate dalzanemdor in Huntington’s disease ahead of a clinical study expected later this year. It’s also intended to extend Sage’s cash runway, although the company did not specify for how long.

For more details, visit the article.

October 14

SalioGen Therapeutics is laying off employees, according to “a person familiar with the situation and employee posts on social media,” STAT reported. The biotech has not formally announced a workforce reduction and did not reply to a BioSpace request for comment.

Based in Lexington, Massachusetts, SalioGen develops genetic medicines using its genome editing technology. In its most recent announcement, the company shared it had appointed a new chief medical officer, Kalliopi “Kali” Stasi. Stasi will be responsible for bringing the biotech’s candidate SGT-1001 into the clinic by mid-2025 as a one-time treatment for Stargardt disease.

October 14

A little over six months after news hit that Evonik would cut up to 2,000 employees, a fresh round of layoffs is on the way at the Germany-based specialty chemicals company and contract manufacturer. Evonik announced Oct. 11 that due to discontinued production of keto acids in Hanau, Germany, it will let go about 260 people by the end of 2025.

In March, Reuters reported Evonik will cut as many as 2,000 jobs from its global workforce by 2026, representing 32% of its workforce at that time. An Evonik spokesperson told Fierce Pharma the latest layoffs are not part of that workforce reduction.

In addition to the Hanau cuts, the company is also evaluating strategic options such as partnerships or divestment for its keto and pharma amino acid production sites in Ham, France, and Wuming, China, according to the Oct. 11 announcement.

For more details, read the article.

October 11

Medical technology company Medtronic will lay off 237 employees at its Santa Ana, California, location, effective Dec. 4, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice. The Ireland-based company did not formally announce the workforce reduction or reasons for it. According to a June SEC filing, as of Dec. 31 Medtronic had over 95,000 employees, of which 44% are based in the U.S. or Puerto Rico.

Medtronic develops technologies including cardiac devices and patient monitoring systems.

October 11

CareFusion Resources, a wholly owned subsidiary of Becton, Dickinson and Company, a global medical technology company, laid off 183 employees effective Sept. 10 across two San Diego locations, according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices. Neither company formally announced the workforce reduction or reasons for it.

CareFusion develops technologies including infusion pumps and automated dispensing and patient identification systems.

October 11

As part of a strategic restructuring, Turnstone Biologics will lay off about 60% of its employees and change up its leadership team, the La Jolla, California–based clinical-stage biotech announced Oct. 11. The company expects to complete the workforce reduction by the end of the fourth quarter, according to an SEC filing on the same day.

Turnstone had 80 employees as of Dec. 31, according to a March SEC filing, meaning the layoffs could affect about 48 people.

As a result of its restructuring, which includes focusing resources on its selected tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy and three C-suite members’ exits, the biotech expects to extend its cash runway into the second quarter of 2026.

For more details, read the article.

October 10

Denmark-based Leo Pharma is closing and relocating up to 250 roles, Fierce Pharma reported. A spokesperson told Fierce most of those jobs are located in Denmark, and Fierce noted that according to a MedWatch report, about 200 roles will be cut and 50 positions shifted to Poland.

The move is part of Leo’s next step in its evolving strategy, a spokesperson told Fierce. The spokesperson noted that the reorganization effort is expected to help the company channel resources to key markets, reinvest in R&D and ensure continuity of care for those who depend on the pharma’s dermatology offerings.

October 10

Astellas Pharma will eliminate 24 roles at Universal Cells, its wholly owned subsidiary in Seattle, and transfer 12 of them to a new Universal site opening at the pharma’s research campus in Tsukuba, Japan, according to Fierce Pharma. Employees at the Tsukuba location, which will reportedly be Universal’s second facility, will fill the transferred roles.

Regarding the role changes and new site, an Astellas spokesperson told Fierce the company regularly reviews its organizations and operations to increase efficiency and leverage new technologies and innovation. The spokesperson added that the move should expand Universal Cells’ gene editing capabilities and evolve it into a center of excellence for cell therapy R&D.

For more details, visit the article.

October 9

Prime Medicine has laid off “a small number of people,” STAT reported. The Cambridge, Massachusetts–based gene editor in September announced a pipeline reorganization meant to extend its cash runway into the first half of 2026. The biotech has now confirmed to STAT that some employees who mostly worked on the shelved programs were let go but did not specify how many were affected. A company spokesperson told STAT there were no significant changes to headcount.

As of Dec. 31, 2023, Prime had 234 full-time employees, 202 of whom were engaged in R&D, according to an SEC filing.

Just before announcing its pipeline reorganization, Prime also announced it had signed a deal with Bristol Myers Squibb worth a potential $3.5 billion. The two companies plan to work together on ex vivo T cell therapies. Prime will design prime editor reagents for an unnamed number of targets in hematology, immunology and oncology. BMS will handle development, manufacturing and commercialization, with support from the biotech.

October 7

Kaléo, which invents, manufactures and commercializes products for serious and life-threatening medical conditions, will lay off about 58 employees around the country, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice filed in Ohio. The pharma did not provide a reason for the cuts in the notice but did state that all affected employees, who are sales representatives, report to its Richmond, Virginia, headquarters.

The expected first date of separation is Nov. 30, and the layoffs include five remote workers in Ohio, according to the notice. In addition, Kaléo is cutting eight employees in Richmond, according to a Virginia WARN notice.

The layoffs were disclosed Sept. 30, the day before the company announced that it’s “redesigned” its commercial team structure for Auvi-Q, its compact epinephrine auto-injector. Kaléo noted it will double the number of representatives providing in-office support to healthcare providers and expand its pharmacy support team to ensure providers and patients have easy access to its programs.

October 7

Stryker, a medical device company based in Michigan, will lay off six employees at its Lakeland, Florida, facility, effective Nov. 30, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice. The cuts are part of an ongoing “program of layoffs” that began in 2021 at the facility and are expected to total about 500 employees and result in the location’s closure by Dec. 31, 2026, according to a letter attached to the WARN filing.

So far, Stryker has eliminated about 220 positions at the facility, the company noted in the letter. As of Dec. 31, 2023, the business had about 52,000 employees globally, including 27,000 in the U.S., according to an SEC filing.

The latest cuts in Lakeland were disclosed at about the same time as an announcement that Stryker had completed its acquisition of Vertos Medical Inc., which provides interventional pain management solutions for chronic lower back pain caused by lumbar spinal stenosis.

October 4

To help streamline its research organization, Relay Therapeutics will lay off around 10% of its workforce, affecting about 30 employees, a company spokesperson told BioSpace in an emailed statement. The spokesperson did not specify when the cuts are effective for the Cambridge, Massachusetts–based clinical-stage precision medicine biotech.

The streamlining process has focused on “rationalizing the tools and on streamlining the teams to enable them to be more efficient,” and its final changes include the layoffs, according to the statement. Fierce Biotech reported that Relay also had layoffs in July that affected less than 5% of employees at the company, which it noted employed about 300 people at that time. Fierce also reported that the streamlining process is meant to save the biotech about $50 million a year.

For more details, visit the article.

October 3

Johnson & Johnson is laying off 231 employees at its New Brunswick, New Jersey, headquarters effective Dec. 27, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice. The company did not formally announce its layoffs or the reasons for them. However, according to Fierce Pharma, a J&J spokesperson’s emailed statement noted that to continue meeting patient needs worldwide, the organization must adapt and evolve “in the midst of a complex and rapidly changing environment.”

For more details, visit the article.

October 3

Bayer is laying off 57 employees at its Whippany, New Jersey, headquarters effective Dec. 27, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice. The company did not formally announce the cuts or the reasons for them. However, Fierce Pharma reported that according to a Bayer spokesperson’s statement, the pharma is adopting a new operating model whose organizational structure will “enable more agility, empower employees to innovate and act, deepen the focus on our mission.”

This is not the first time Bayer has let go employees at its Whippany headquarters. According to a May WARN notice, 35 employees were laid off effective Aug. 29. Other notable Bayer layoffs this year include the company cutting its executive team from 14 to eight members in March and eliminating 1,500 jobs, mostly management positions, in May.

For more details, visit the article.

October 3

Pfizer will eliminate up to 210 manufacturing jobs across sites in Grange Castle, Newbridge and Ringaskiddy, Ireland, The Irish Times reported. Some cuts are happening before the end of this year and others in 2025, according to the Times.

Pfizer did not formally announce its cuts or the reasons for them. However, The Irish Times reported that a spokesperson for Pfizer’s Irish business told the newspaper that the company recently launched a multiyear, multiphased program designed to assess manufacturing efficiency and find operational efficiencies “to increase productivity within the network.”

The pharma has been trimming its U.S. workforce as well, with more cuts expected in the future. According to a July WARN notice, the company let go 150 employees from its Sanford, North Carolina, facility and 60 from its Rocky Mount, North Carolina, site, effective July 31. That workforce reduction followed a May 2024 SEC filing where Pfizer detailed plans to cut costs by $1.5 billion by the end of 2027.

For more details, visit the article.

October 3

ImmunityBio will cut 15 employees effective Nov. 25, according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices. This brings the total number of employees let go in California this fall to 31.

The affected workers for the most recent layoffs are in Culver City, El Segundo and San Diego, with the majority—10—in El Segundo. These are in addition to the five employees in Culver City and 11 in El Segundo that will be laid off effective Oct. 29, according to an Aug. 30 WARN notice.

While ImmunityBio did not formally announce the new round of cuts or the reasons for them, a recent SEC filing noted the company’s financial challenges. As of June 30, the San Diego–based biotech had an accumulated deficit of $3.2 billion. It also had negative cash flows of $207.3 million during the six months ended June 30.

For more details, visit the article.

October 2

As part of a restructuring that includes discontinuing a clinical program, Shattuck Labs will lay off about 40% of its workforce, the company announced Oct. 1. The biotech expects to complete the layoffs in the fourth quarter but did not disclose which locations the cuts will affect. Shattuck’s corporate office is in Austin, while its R&D office is in Durham, North Carolina.

According to a February SEC filing, Shattuck had 75 full-time employees as of Dec. 31, 2023, which means the layoffs could affect about 30 people. However, the filing also noted the company might hire in 2024 and beyond.

In its Oct. 1 announcement, Shattuck stated it’s discontinuing its clinical program, SL-172154, and will focus instead on SL-325, its death receptor 3 (DR3) antagonist antibody. Interim clinical data for SL-172154 in combination with azacitidine in TP53 mutant acute myeloid leukemia and higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes did not yield hoped-for results, according to the company.

For more details, visit the article.

September 30

After a business strategy update, vaccine maker Inventprise laid off about 7% of its employees—roughly 14 positions—earlier this month, Fierce Biotech reported. The company has not made a formal announcement regarding the layoffs.

Based in Washington, Inventprise has three manufacturing locations in the state, according to its website: two in Redmond and one in Woodinville. Fierce did not note which locations the layoffs will affect.

Inventprise’s most recent press release dates back to January, when the company announced it had completed vaccination in its Phase II dose ranging study of a 25-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (IVT PCV-25) in young adults.

September 25

As part of a restructuring aimed at reducing cash operating expenses by 20%, bluebird bio will cut about 25% of its workforce, the company announced Sept. 24. The Somerville, Massachusetts–based biotech had 375 full-time employees—including 221 in R&D—as of June 30, according to a Sept. 13 SEC filing.

The news comes a little over a month after a second-quarter 2024 earnings report showed that despite pioneering gene therapies for several diseases, the biotech has had difficulty starting enough patients on its treatments.

In its Sept. 24 announcement, bluebird noted that as part of its restructuring, it will “further sharpen” its focus on the commercial launches of sickle cell disease treatment Lyfgenia, cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy gene therapy Skysona and beta-thalassemia therapy Zynteglo. Year to date, the company said, 41 patients have started treatment across that portfolio.

For more details, visit the article.

September 24

Bristol Myers Squibb’s latest layoffs in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, bring the total number of employees being cut there this year and in 2025 to 1,134, according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices. The most recent workforce reduction involves 79 employees who will leave the company between Dec. 12 and May 30.

BMS confirmed to Fierce Pharma that the dismissals are part of its previously announced cuts. In April, the company’s first-quarter 2024 earnings report revealed it would implement a “strategic productivity initiative” to generate about $1.5 billion in cost savings through 2025. The initiative includes eliminating about 2,200 jobs by the end of 2024. According to BMS, it will use the savings to fund innovation, focusing on R&D programs that have the highest potential return on investment and with an eye toward long-term growth.

For more details, visit the article.

September 24

Athira Pharma will lay off about 70% of its workforce as part of cost-containment measures, the company has announced. The clinical-stage biopharma based in Bothell, Washington, expects its cuts of about 49 positions to be mostly complete by Dec. 31, according to an SEC filing. Those being laid off include two C-suite executives, with their terminations effective Oct. 1.

The announcement comes shortly after Athira shared that its investigational injection fosgonimeton failed to significantly boost cognition or function in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease in the Phase II/III LIFT-AD trial.

In its Sept. 17 announcement noting the layoffs, Athira said it will focus on advancing clinical development of ATH-1105 as a potential treatment for neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

For more details, visit the article.

September 19

AGC Biologics, a Seattle-based contract development and manufacturing organization, will lay off 95 employees—85 in Boulder, Colorado, and 10 in Bothell, Washington—effective Nov. 22, according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices. The company did not make a formal announcement regarding the workforce reduction or reasons behind it.

AGC provides pharmaceutical development and manufacturing services for protein-based biologics and cell and gene therapies. The company has more than 2,500 employees globally, according to its website.

September 16

To reduce operating expenses while it considers “strategic alternatives” for its future, Oncternal Therapeutics is laying off about 10 employees, representing roughly 37% of its workforce, according to a Sept. 12 SEC filing. In connection with that reduction, Salim Yazji will be out as chief medical officer, effective Oct. 1. The company expects to mostly complete the layoffs in the third quarter.

Also on Sept. 12, Oncternal announced it’s discontinuing clinical trials for two drugs, ceasing all product development activities and exploring options that could include asset sales as well as a merger, reverse merger or acquisition.

For more details, visit the article.

September 13

Biosense Webster, which is now part of Johnson & Johnson MedTech, will lay off 13 employees in California, effective Nov. 21, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice. While the company is based in Irvine, the affected employees are in Los Gatos, according to the notice.

On Sept. 9, Johnson & Johnson announced its medical technology businesses, including Biosense, will now go by the name Johnson & Johnson MedTech. Biosense specializes in cardiac arrhythmia treatment.

September 11

Charles River Laboratories, which provides products and services to biopharma companies, is laying off 3% of its workforce, a spokesperson confirmed to BioSpace via email on Sept. 11. The Massachusetts-based company did not answer questions regarding how many employees total are being let go, which locations are affected or the workforce reduction’s effective date. However, according to an SEC filing, the company had about 21,800 employees as of Dec. 30, 2023, so the layoffs could affect around 650 people. According to an Aug. 2 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice, 13 workers in Frederick, Maryland, are being let go effective Sept. 30.

“Charles River continuously evaluates our workforce and business operations to ensure alignment with current industry demand and client needs,” the company said in an emailed statement. “In response to current trends, we are in the process of reducing our workforce by approximately 3% and are streamlining our cost structure to optimize our footprint, be more effective in supporting clients, and drive greater operating efficiencies.”

September 10

Startup biotech Vesigen Therapeutics is laying off staff, Endpoints News reported Sept. 6. Vesigen CEO Paulash Mohsen confirmed the workforce reduction to the publication but did not say how many employees at the Cambridge, Massachusetts, company are affected. He did, however, share that the organization is “evaluating strategic options.”

Vesigen is working to develop a novel, nonviral delivery technology for gene editing, RNA and protein-based therapeutics. In a May announcement, the company noted it had new data supporting the potential of its ARRDC1-mediated microvesicles technology to functionally deliver a variety of payloads, including genome editors, to a broad range of disease-relevant cells and tissues.

September 6

Connect Biopharma, a San Diego–based clinical-stage biopharma company, has laid off about 15% of its China workforce and will have additional cuts, the business announced Sept. 5. The roughly 15% workforce reduction took place over a 12-month period and was complete June 30. Additional layoffs in China are expected by year’s end.

In the announcement, Connect stated the cuts are part of a transition to a U.S.-centric company. It also noted it’s moved the manufacturing process for its lead product candidate, rademikibart, to a U.S.-based contract manufacturer, which will allow it to significantly reduce manufacturing expenses for the rest of 2024 and 2025.

Earlier this year, Connect received favorable feedback from the FDA regarding potential Phase III registrational programs for rademikibart in asthma and atopic dermatitis, according to the announcement. The company noted it’s considering whether to advance rademikibart into a Phase III program or explore other development opportunities for it that could be completed without additional financing.

September 6

BioMarin will lay off 147 employees in California effective Nov. 1, according to an Aug. 28 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice. Those employees are likely part of a previously announced workforce reduction of about 225 employees globally, which the company expected to mostly complete by end of this year, according to an SEC filing. Those roughly 225 employees were notified on Aug. 28, according to that filing.

BioMarin also laid off about 170 employees globally in May.

The company has been making other key changes in the past month. In late August, it announced an executive restructuring. On Sept. 4, BioMarin revealed it’s restructuring the company into three key units: skeletal conditions, enzyme therapies and Roctavian.

September 6

Just weeks after an Aug. 8 SEC filing that noted recurring losses, negative operating cash flows and a need for additional capital, IN8bio is laying off nearly half of its workforce. The clinical-stage biopharma company announced the workforce reduction on Sept. 4 as part of a plan to preserve its cash resources, which also includes a pipeline prioritization.

According to a Sept. 4 SEC filing, IN8bio is reducing its workforce from 37 to 19 full-time employees at its New York City and Birmingham, Alabama, sites, effective Sept. 4. In addition, the executive management team and board agreed to an 11% cash compensation cut, effective Sept. 1.

For more details, visit the article.

September 6

Edwards Lifesciences, a medical device company that specializes in structural heart disease, will lay off 3% of its global workforce—about 540 employees—to realign resources and capabilities, MedTech Dive reported. According to a Sept. 3 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice, the organization is cutting 193 employees in California, effective Nov. 8. The California cuts are likely part of the overall workforce reduction.

The layoffs follow Edwards’ sale of its critical care product group to BD ( Becton, Dickinson and Company) for $4.2 billion. The company will use net proceeds to fund strategic initiatives, including previously announced acquisitions and share repurchases, according to a Sept. 3 announcement.

In its article, MedTech Dive noted Edwards experienced “sluggish growth” in its transcatheter aortic valve replacement business in the first half of the year.

September 5

Shortly after an SEC filing reported the company’s financial challenges, ImmunityBio is laying off 16 employees in California (five in Culver City and 11 in El Segundo), according to an Aug. 30 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice. The biotech’s workforce reduction will be effective Oct. 29.

ImmunityBio is experiencing deficit and cash-flow challenges, according to the filing. As of June 30, the company had an accumulated deficit of $3.2 billion. It also had negative cash flows of $207.3 million during the six months ended June 30.

For more details, visit the article.

September 4
Less than three months after filing for voluntary chapter 11 protection, DermTech is laying off 51 employees in San Diego, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice. The layoffs are effective Sept. 6.

According to a June SEC filing, DermTech, which specializes in noninvasive skin genomics technology, laid off 15 employees (20% of its headcount) in the second quarter. That filing noted potential additional workforce reductions could occur in the future.

September 4

Astellas Gene Therapies, an Astellas Pharma business, is closing its San Francisco biomanufacturing facility and cutting at least 17 employees. Seven are being laid off effective Oct. 21, according to an Aug. 27 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice. Ten were let go effective June 19, according to an earlier WARN notice.

An Astellas spokesperson told BioSpace via email that the closure will affect about 100 employees but would not confirm how many are being laid off. The closure is expected to be complete by March 2025, according to the spokesperson. A company statement emailed to BioSpace stated that the facility’s programs and projects are moving to its Sanford, North Carolina, location.

For more details, visit the article.

August 30

About a week after BioMarin rolled out an executive reorganization, the biotech is cutting staff, laying off about 225 employees across its global workforce, according to an SEC filing. Affected employees were notified Aug. 28, and layoffs should be mostly complete by end of this year.

BioMarin also laid off employees in May. Those cuts affected about 170 employees globally and were expected to be mostly complete by the end of July, according to a May SEC filing.

The latest layoffs are connected to BioMarin’s reorganization, according to the most recent filing, as well as to its updated strategy for hemophilia gene therapy Roctavian and the discontinued development of BMN 293, a preclinical gene therapy for a subtype of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

For more details, visit the article.

August 29

Repare Therapeutics is laying off about 25% of its overall workforce, with most cuts coming from its preclinical group, the company announced Aug. 28. Repare stated the workforce reduction is tied to a strategic reprioritization of its R&D activities to focus on advancing its portfolio of clinical-stage oncology programs.

The company expects total nonrecurring cash payments of approximately $1.5 million to $2 million in the third quarter associated with the workforce reduction, according to the announcement. It noted it expects to generate annual savings of approximately $15 million that will extend its cash runway into the second half of 2026.

August 29

Biotech firm Genentech will lay off 93 employees at its South San Francisco headquarters, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice and SFGATE. SFGATE reported that scientist roles will be the hardest hit, although engineers, managers, analysts and one vice president are also being let go. The layoffs are effective Oct. 8, according to the WARN notice.

This is the second round of layoffs at Genentech in 2024. In April, a company representative confirmed to BioSpace it would reduce its workforce by about 3% across multiple departments, with more than 400 jobs estimated to be affected.

The latest layoffs follow news earlier this month that Genentech was closing its cancer immunology group as the company reprioritized investments in cancer research.

For more details, visit the article.

August 27

Bayer is laying off more employees, this time cutting about 150 jobs at its consumer health international headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, Fierce Pharma reported, citing Swiss newspaper NZZ’s article. The layoffs within Bayer’s 1,000-person Basel workforce will mostly affect the consumer health division and the administrative functions that support it and should take effect by 2025, according to Fierce.

Earlier this month, the company released its second-quarter earnings results, where CEO Bill Anderson said the consumer health division had “returned to growth,” with sales increasing 5.3% to $1.59 billion.

The Basel cuts are the latest in Bayer’s 2024 workforce reductions, which include two notable layoffs in the first six months of the year. In March, the company eliminated nearly half of its executive leadership team, going from 14 to eight members. Then in May, it cut 1,500 jobs, mostly management positions.

For more details, visit the article.

August 27

Gene editing startup Tome Biosciences is letting go of 131 employees, nearly all of its headcount, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act notice filed on Friday in Massachusetts. The layoffs will take place from Nov. 1 through Nov. 14.

In a statement to Endpoints News, Tome CEO Rahul Kakkar declined to provide more details regarding the reorganization—including whether a small group will stay on to manage the company as it winds down operations.

Before the restructuring, Tome had over 130 employees, Kakkar told Endpoints.

For more details, visit the article.

August 22

Aadi Bioscience, a precision oncology company, is laying off 80% of its R&D staff as it focuses on preserving cash while maximizing its commercial business, the company announced last Tuesday.

According to a Wednesday SEC filing, Aadi is letting go 22 employees, representing 32% of its total workforce, by the end of the fourth quarter. An SEC filing earlier this month noted that as of June 30, Aadi had 70 full-time employees, including 48 in R&D. It is unclear at this time whether Aadi has already experienced workforce reductions since June, or if the company plans additional layoffs beyond the 22 noted in last week’s filing, to bring the newly announced layoffs to 80% of current R&D staff.

In its announcement, Aadi shared that it’s halting its PRECISION1 trial of nab-sirolimus in patients with solid tumors harboring TSC1- or TSC2-inactivating alterations, as the trial is unlikely to meet the efficacy threshold needed to support an accelerated approval. It will also pause new enrollment in two ongoing Phase 2 trials of nab-sirolimus for advanced or recurrent endometrioid-type endometrial cancer and neuroendocrine tumors.

For more details, visit the article.

August 19

Less than one week after failing to win approval for its MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder, Lykos Therapeutics announced it will lay off around 75% of its staff as part of a reorganization. Prior to the cuts, Lykos had about 100 employees, according to STAT News.

On Aug. 9, the FDA issued a complete response letter for midomafetamine (MDMA) capsules, saying Lykos’ new drug application (NDA) could not be approved based on the data submitted to date. The decision followed a June advisory committee meeting in which the FDA’s Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 10-1 against recommending the treatment, saying that its benefits did not outweigh its risks.

The reorganization is intended to streamline the organization around clinical development and regulatory engagement as it prepares to resubmit its NDA for MDMA capsules, according to the Aug. 15 announcement.

August 16

German biotech Evotec will potentially cut 400 roles globally, the company announced Aug. 14. According to an SEC filing, there are more than 5,000 employees at Evotec, which offers pipeline co-creation partnerships and contract research organization/contract development and manufacturing services for drug discovery and development. If the company cuts 400 roles, that would amount to around 8% of its workforce, which includes employees at Evotec’s U.S. headquarters in Princeton, N.J.

In its Wednesday announcement, Evotec reported that total shared R&D revenue for the first six months of 2024 was down 7% year over year. It dropped from 324.8 million euros ($357.6 million) for the first half of 2023 to 302.4 million euros ($332.9 million) for the same period this year.

August 15

Galera Therapeutics will reduce its workforce to three employees on Aug. 31 as it moves toward a planned closure, the company announced Wednesday. According to an SEC filing that same day, Galera’s board approved a liquidation and dissolution plan on Aug. 8 and laid off 22 employees—70% of its workforce—on Aug. 9.

In its announcement, Galera, which focuses on drugs for use in radiotherapy, stated it had stopped all clinical trial activity and development of product candidates as it explored potential strategic alternatives for the business. Now, it will prepare for a stockholder vote on its dissolution plan, expected on or around Oct. 17.

According to Galera’s announcement, as of June 30, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $10.7 million, which it expects will fund operating expenses, including dissolution-related costs, for at least the next 12 months.

August 15

Less than two months after Illumina spun off Grail, the company is laying off about 350 employees, it announced on Tuesday. The reduction represents about 25% of its workforce as of June 30, according to an SEC filing.

Grail, which focuses on cancer diagnostics, is also pulling back on planned 2024 hires, according to the filing. A Grail spokesperson told STAT via email that about 150 open roles were eliminated.

The force reduction is part of a restructuring plan designed to reprioritize resources to focus on the company’s core multicancer early detection business and reduce overall spend as Grail works toward completing registrational studies and its premarket approval application submission for galleri, according to the SEC filing. As a result of its overall cost reductions, Grail expects to extend its existing cash runway from the second half of 2026 into 2028, according to the announcement.

August 14

Viracta Therapeutics is laying off 23% of its employees, the company announced Wednesday in a press release. The clinical-stage precision oncology company previously noted the layoff in a July 29 Securities and Exchange Commission filing, stating the forced reduction would be complete this month. Viracta did not specify how many employees it was laying off, but a May 9 SEC filing noted the company had 40 full-time employees as of March 31, including 30 in R&D.

According to the press release, Viracta has aligned its resources to prioritize its Epstein-Barr virus-positive (EBV+) lymphoma program. The company noted it received positive feedback from a meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, giving clarity on a potential regulatory path to initial registration of nana-val in patients with relapsed or refractory EBV+ peripheral T cell lymphoma.

August 14

Ovid Therapeutics has laid off 17 employees, representing 43% of its workforce, according to an Aug. 13 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The biopharma company noted that it initiated the forced reduction as part of an organizational restructuring that will help it extend its cash runway.

In an Aug. 13 press release, Ovid, which focuses on rare epilepsies and brain conditions, stated it expects that cash runway to support operations and clinical development well into the first half of 2026.

According to the SEC filing, the layoff followed Takeda’s report of Phase 3 topline study results for soticlestat, which Takeda licenses from Ovid. Soticlestat failed to hit the primary efficacy endpoints in the SKYLINE study in Dravet syndrome and the SKYWAY trial in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.

August 14

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals will lay off about half of its field force—more than 75 people—by the end of the third quarter, the company announced Aug. 13.

The biopharma business noted that after strategically reviewing its commercial and pipeline programs, it will refocus resources across its portfolio. Lexicon will optimize promotional efforts for sotagliflozin in heart failure and reallocate resources to support the drug’s potential commercial launch for adults with type 1 diabetes and chronic kidney disease. The company expects these efforts to result in approximately $40 million in cost savings for 2025 while ensuring all R&D programs are fully funded.

August 14

Acelyrin will lay off about 40 employees, representing 33% of its workforce, according to an Aug. 13 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The company expects to complete most layoffs by the end of the year. In addition, Chief Operating Officer Melanie Gloria will step down from her position effective Oct. 31.

Acelyrin, a late-stage clinical biopharma company, also noted in the filing that it’s suspending new internal investment in developing izokibep, a small therapeutic protein inhibitor of interleukin-17A, in hidradenitis suppurativa, psoriatic arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis. Moving forward, the business will primarily focus on its lonigutamab clinical program in thyroid eye disease.

August 14

Boundless Bio announced “a modest reduction in workforce” in an Aug. 12 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The clinical-stage oncology company did not state how many employees were let go. However, a May 13 SEC filing stated the company had 72 full-time employees as of May 6.

Boundless Bio develops novel drugs targeting extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA). In its more recent filing, the company announced its intention to scale back early discovery efforts, including by reducing its workforce, to extend its operating runway. Boundless noted that based on current operating plans, it believes its existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $179.3 million as of June 30 are sufficient to fund the company into the fourth quarter of 2026.

The forced reduction comes about five months after Boundless announced plans to go public. According to the Aug. 12 filing, the initial public offering resulted in net proceeds of approximately $87.7 million after deducting underwriting discounts, commission and other offering expenses.

August 13

As part of its previously announced elimination of 75% of its U.S.-based workforce, FibroGen will lay off 127 people at its San Francisco location, according to an Aug. 7 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The biopharmaceutical company, which focuses on novel drugs for cancer, notified employees on Aug. 2.

According to the SEC filing, FibroGen expects to complete most headcount reductions by the end of the first quarter of 2025. The company is estimating it will incur nonrecurring charges of $16 million to $18 million in connection with its overall plan to reduce operating expenses, primarily in the form of severance payments, notice pay, accrued vacation, payroll tax and employee benefits contributions.

The force reduction is a result of two late-stage trials failing to meet the primary endpoint of overall survival, according to FibroGen’s July 31 announcement: a Phase II/III trial investigating the company’s experimental drug pamrevlumab in combination with gemcitabine in the first and second line in metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (mPDAC) patients and a separate Phase III trial that assessed pamrevlumab combined with gemcitabine or folfirinox to treat pancreatic cancer. The announcement also noted the company is implementing an “immediate and significant” cost reduction plan to terminate the pamrevlumab program and halt any obligations to the drug.

August 12

Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services, a contract development and manufacturing organization, will lay off 71 employees effective Sept. 30, according to an Aug. 1 WARN notice. That number represents 13% of the company’s U.S. workforce, according to Fierce Pharma.

Fierce noted that according to a memo it viewed, affected employees should receive severance packages. It also reported that the layoff round is part of a larger plan to consolidate Ajinomoto’s drug substance production at the Columbus, Ohio, plant the CDMO received in its $620 million buyout of Forge Biologics in 2023.

August 12

AN2 Therapeutics, a biopharma company focused on novel small molecule drugs, will lay off about 50% of its employees, according to an Aug. 7 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. An earlier SEC filing stated that as of Feb. 29, the company had 41 full-time employees in disciplines including clinical operations, clinical development, research, manufacturing, regulatory and quality.

In the most recent filing, AN2 noted the reduction in force should be mostly complete by the end of 2024 and will include the Aug. 30 departure of Paul Eckburg, the company’s chief medical officer. Eckburg will provide consulting services to the company for up to one year after that date.

According to the SEC filing, the force reduction is connected to AN2’s planned focus shift following discontinuation of its EBO-301 study, which evaluated epetraborole in treatment-refractory MAC lung disease. The layoff is also intended to further extend the company’s operating capital. An Aug. 8 press release stated AN2 plans to accelerate its R&D efforts on its boron chemistry platform.

August 8

Entero Therapeutics, a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, will lay off all nonessential employees and terminate the employment of CEO James Sapirstein and President Jack Syage, although Sapirstein will stay on as a consultant, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. In early June, Sapirstein told Endpoints News the company had 16 staffers and six full-time consultants.

Entero rebranded in May, when it changed its name from First Wave BioPharma to Entero Therapeutics. The company had recently merged with ImmunogenX. On Aug. 2, according to the SEC filing, ImmunogenX received a notice of default demanding immediate payment on all obligations, which total about $7 million.

According to the filing, Entero will vacate its Boca Raton, Florida, office; is pausing nonessential R&D activities; and is exploring ways to maximize value for company stakeholders including, but not limited to, raising capital and restructuring debt.

August 7

Gene and cell therapy company Precigen will lay off more than 20% of its staff, it announced on Tuesday. “These strategic changes substantially reduce required resources for non-priority programs and will enable the Company to focus on pre-commercialization efforts on PRGN-2012,” its gene therapy for recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, according to the announcement. Precigen had approximately 190 employees as of the end of 2022.

August 6

Sumitomo Pharma America is laying off 53 people in Marlborough, Mass., according to an August 1 WARN notice. The company, whose head U.S. office is in Cambridge, had already disclosed 400 U.S. layoffs in March of this year.

August 6

As it carries out a plan announced in the spring to lay off 2,200 employees this year, Bristol Myers Squibb is letting go of 117 of its staff in Lawrenceville, NJ, the company disclosed in a July WARN notice. The latest round follows other Lawrenceville layoffs in March and May of this year.

August 2

Gene therapy company uniQure is laying off 65% of its employees, a total of 300 people, including Chief Operating Officer Pierre Caloz, the company announced Thursday. The move came a month after uniQure revealed that it had agreed to sell its Lexington, Mass. manufacturing facility to Genezen; uniQure attributed the departure of Caloz and some other employees to the sale.

“[W]e’ve taken targeted measures to substantially reduce operating expenses, streamline operations, and extend cash runway,” said uniQure CEO Matt Kapusta in the announcement. “These actions are designed to ensure we have the funding required to achieve key milestones and drive shareholder value, as we endeavor to deliver transformative medicines to patients in need.”

August 2

Vir Biotechnology will lay off 25% of its workforce, eliminating approximately 140 roles across its operations, the company announced on Thursday. The reduction is part of a major shift in its research and development priorities in which the biotech will abandon its work on COVID-19 and influenza, as well as its T-cell-based viral vector platform, instead focusing on its hepatitis B and D programs and moving into the cancer space via a deal with Sanofi.

August 1

Arbutus Biopharma will lay off 40% of its staff in order to focus resources on its Phase II treatment for chronic hepatitis B infection, the company announced as part of its Q2 financial results on Thursday. “[W]e have made the difficult decision to discontinue our HBV research efforts and reduce our headcount leading to a projected cash runway into the fourth quarter of 2026,” Arbutus Interim President and CEO Michael J. McElhaugh said in the announcement.

The British Columbia–based Arbutus had 73 full-time employees as of the end of 2023, according to an SEC filing.

August 1

Boston-based HilleVax is laying off 41 employees, about 40% of its workforce, the company announced Wednesday. In its announcement, the company said the reduction “is intended to preserve cash while maintaining core capabilities as the company explores the potential for continued development” of its vaccine candidates.

HilleVax was spun out of Takeda in 2021 in order to continue development of its norovirus vaccine.

August 1

Bayer will lay off a further 70 people at its Whippany, NJ headquarters, the company revealed in a July WARN notice. The reductions will be effective at the end of October. “We are adopting a new operating model and with it, a new organizational structure,” a company spokesperson stated in an email to Fierce Pharma.

In May, Bayer announced that it had already reduced its headcount by about 1,500 in 2024, mainly by eliminating management positions. The company was surpassed only by Bristol Myers Squibb for the most layoffs in biopharma in the first five months of this year.

July 31

FibroGen will eliminate 75% of its U.S.-based workforce after two late-stage trials failed to meet the primary endpoint of overall survival, the company announced Wednesday. FibroGen has 475 employees globally, according to its website.

A Phase II/III trial investigated FibroGen’s experimental drug pamrevlumab in combination with gemcitabine in the first and second line in metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (mPDAC) patients, while a separate Phase III trial assessed pamrevlumab combined with gemcitabine or Folfirinox to treat pancreatic cancer.

The company is implementing an “immediate and significant” cost reduction plan to terminate the pamrevlumab program, halt any obligations to the drug, and reduce its headcount, according to the press release. FibroGen previously cut 104 employees last year after another phase III failure, according to Fierce Biotech.

July 30

Pfizer will lay off 150 employees from its facility in Sanford, NC, and 60 from its site in Rocky Mount, NC, the pharma giant disclosed in a WARN notice last week. While the WARN notice lists the layoffs as closures, the two sites will in fact remain open, a company spokesperson told Fierce Pharma. The Sanford site is involved in gene therapy programs, while the Rocky Mount facility makes sterile injectables, Fierce reports.

After a downturn in sales of its COVID products, Pfizer announced a $3.5 billion cost-cutting initiative last October, and has since implemented several rounds of layoffs. In May of this year, the company disclosed plans to cut a further $1.5 billion in costs over the next several years.

July 29

Boston-based Cue Biopharma announced on Thursday a shift in priorities that will entail laying off a quarter of its staff. The company will focus resources on its autoimmune program while seeking partners to continue development of its oncology candidates, Cue CEO Daniel Passeri said in the announcement. The realignment will extend Cue’s cash runway into mid-2025, the company said.

As of the day before the announcement, Cue had about 50 employees, Passeri told Endpoints News.

July 26

Anokion, a Switzerland- and Massachusetts-based company focused on autoimmune disease, will lay off an undisclosed number of staff, a spokesperson told Fierce Biotech. The company plans to focus resources on its lead candidate, a drug for celiac disease that is currently in Phase II.

July 26

Following a meeting with the FDA and the determination that its candidate for relapsed and refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) will require an additional clinical trial, GlycoMimetics will lay off approximately 80% of its staff. The company will also undergo a strategic review on how best to move forward, it said in a Thursday announcement. The Rockville, MD–based company was notified by the Nasdaq in June that its stock price has dropped below the $1/share needed to qualify for listing on the stock market, it revealed in an SEC filing on Friday. As of the end of 2023, GlycoMimetics had 35 full-time employees.

July 26

Cambridge, Mass.–based Relay Therapeutics has laid off less than 5% of its 300-person workforce, a spokesperson told Fierce Biotech. The company, which focuses on precision oncology and genetic disease, saw the termination earlier this month of an agreement with Genentech around development and commercialization of a small molecule cancer drug. But the spokesperson told Fierce the layoff was unrelated to the dissolution of that deal.

July 24

Merck let go some 75 to 80 people this week, STAT reported Wednesday. The layoffs, which came across multiple groups, affected the company’s early research division, according to the publication.

July 22

Rapt Therapeutics will “reduce its workforce by 47 people, or approximately 40% of the Company’s existing headcount” in order to conserve cash resources, the company revealed in an SEC filing dated July 19. The South San Francisco–based biotech suffered a setback in February when the FDA placed a hold on two Phase II trials of its candidate zelnecirnon after a case of liver failure. In addition to zelnecirnon, which is being developed for asthma and atopic dermatitis, Rapt has a second clinical-stage candidate, tivumecirnon, in trials for cancer.

July 18

Aslan Pharmaceuticals is liquidating its assets and has terminated all of its employees, the Singapore-based biopharma announced Wednesday. Its directors had determined “that ASLAN SG cannot by reason of its liabilities continue its business,” according to the announcement. The company also said it had received a delisting determination from the Nasdaq on July 15 “due to its failure to meet continued listing requirements,” and that it elected not to request a hearing about the determination.

According to an SEC filing, as of the end of 2023 Aslan had 20 employees in Singapore, 14 in the U.S. and one in the U.K.

July 16

Caribou Biosciences has parted with 21 people—12% of its workforce—as it discontinues preclinical development of allogeneic CAR-NK therapies, the company reported to the SEC on Tuesday. The filing added that the layoffs will be completed by the end of the third quarter and that its cash runway will be extended into the second half of 2026 as it focuses resources on its allogeneic (or off-the-shelf) CAR T cell therapy platform.

July 12

Roche’s Spark Therapeutics is laying off staffers and halting some of its early-stage programs, Endpoints News reported Thursday. A spokesperson for the Philadelphia-based gene therapy biotech told the publication that the company is pivoting its strategy to “accelerate its pipeline and help bring more therapies to patients sooner, but this move will include ‘organizational changes.’” Notifications about employment were sent out this week, although no indication was given of how many people would be let go.

Spark has two late-stage trials in hemophilia A and hemophilia B in its pipeline and an early-stage asset for treating Pompe disease. The biotech has around 800 employees and was purchased by the Swiss pharma in 2019 for approximately $4.8 billion.

July 11

Swiss pharma Novartis has let go of 29 employees in San Diego and will eliminate approximately 100 more jobs as it winds down its development site there, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Wednesday. A company spokesperson told the outlet in an email that “a set of changes to build future capabilities and access global talent pools will be implemented over the next 2 to 3 years, with parallel build-up and reduction of roles in certain locations.”

In April, Reuters reported that Novartis was planning to cut hundreds of development jobs worldwide, including 240 in the U.S.

Correction (July his entry has been updated to state that the site affected is a development site, not a research site. BioSpace regrets the error.

July 11

Virginia-based Indivior will cease sales and marketing of its schizophrenia drug Perseris and lay off approximately 130 sales staff, the company announced Tuesday. The company, which focuses on treatments for mental illness and substance use disorder, ascribed its decision to “the highly competitive market and impending changes that are expected to intensify payor management in the treatment category in which PERSERIS participates.”

July 3

Oncology biopharma Apollomics is letting go of two members of its leadership team as well as an unspecified number of staff, the company announced Tuesday. “As a result of the updated strategic focus, and aligned with the Company’s resource needs going forward, Sanjeev Redkar, Ph.D., Company co-founder and President, and Peony Yu, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, are expected to transition to consulting roles in August,” the announcement stated, also noting the departure of “other employees.” The reductions are linked to the company’s narrowing of the target patient population for its candidate vebreltinib, currently in a Phase II clinical trial for certain tumors.

July 3

CureVac will reduce its workforce by 30% as it restructures its mRNA collaboration with GSK, the German company announced Tuesday. The two companies began collaborating on mRNA vaccines in 2020 and have candidates for seasonal influenza, COVID-19 and avian influenza in the pipeline. Under the new agreement, GSK “will assume full control of developing and manufacturing these candidate vaccines,” according to the announcement.

Meanwhile, CureVac said its reduction in force will “create a leaner, more agile organization re-focused on technology innovation, research and development” and extend its cash runway into 2028. The company employed 1,172 worldwide as of the end of 2023, according to an SEC filing, and had already shed about 150 employees through a “voluntary leaver” program in April.

July 2

Takeda will lay off a further 220 employees in Massachusetts, the company disclosed in a June 27 WARN notice. Of those, 189 people will be let go from a location in Cambridge, and 31 are being laid off in Lexington. In total, Takeda has now laid off or announced plans to lay off more than 1,300 employees so far in 2024, on top of staffing cuts it made in 2023.

A Takeda spokesperson told Endpoints in an emailed statement the company is prioritizing “increasing organizational agility, improving procurement savings, and strengthening how we leverage data, digital and technology across Takeda. . . . As we continue to work to bring these initiatives to fruition, difficult choices will also be required, and some employees will be impacted as a result.”

July 1

Waltham, Massachusetts–based Aerovate Therapeutics will lay off “nearly all of its workforce” in the coming months following the Phase IIb failure of its candidate for pulmonary arterial hypertension, the company disclosed to the SEC on June 25. Aerovate added that it has already notified 39 people—78% of its workforce—of their terminations.

July 1

Swiss biotech GeNeuro is laying off all but two of its staff members in the wake of the Phase II failure of its candidate for long COVID, the company announced Friday. GeNeuro “has made redundant 7 of its 9 employment agreements, including all of the Executive Management,” the announcement said. “All employees and managers will work through their notice periods, of up to 6 months, to execute the strategy that will be defined by the Board over the coming days.”