The number of employees laid off dropped year over year during the first quarter. BioSpace recaps the five largest layoffs, which included BMS and Novartis cuts.
Layoffs pushed thousands of pharma and biotech professionals into the job market in the first quarter, albeit at a slower pace than last year. During the first three months of 2025, 70 companies let go of about 4,015 employees, an 18% year-over-year drop in people affected, based on BioSpace tallies. Those numbers exclude contract development and manufacturing organizations, contract research organizations, tools and services businesses and medical device firms.
When looking at the first quarter’s layoffs, it’s important to note that not all companies disclose downsizing. Biopharmas also sometimes share only the percentage of staff affected rather than exact numbers of people let go.
To tally first-quarter cuts, BioSpace compiled data for known workforce reductions. We identified—or sometimes estimated—the number of employees affected primarily through information in company press releases, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices, SEC filings and other media outlets’ reports or via confirmation from company officials.
Using those estimations, here are the five largest biopharma layoffs during the first quarter based on the number of people affected in each workforce reduction.
1. Novartis: 427 in East Hanover, New Jersey
In March, Switzerland-based Novartis disclosed two layoffs, with the largest one affecting 427 employees at its U.S. headquarters in East Hanover, New Jersey. The cuts are effective from June 13 to Oct. 24, according to a WARN notice.
The pharma is also letting go of 34 employees at its Campus Point manufacturing facility in San Diego. The cuts, which are connected to the site’s closure, are effective June 27, as noted in a WARN notice.
The New Jersey and California layoffs are not the only ones in recent months for Novartis. News broke in December that the company would let go of 330 employees at sites it was closing in Germany and Boston. The pharma had added those locations as part of a $2.9 billion acquisition of MorphoSys, a move intended to boost Novartis’ oncology portfolio with the small molecule BET inhibitor pelabresib.
2. Galapagos: 300 Across Europe Operations
Galapagos announced in January that it will split into two entities by mid-2025 and cut 40% of its workforce, which the company expected should affect about 300 employees across its Europe operations. The Belgium-based biotech also noted it will close its site in France and decrease staff in Belgium.
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 business for sustainable growth and future success in its renewed focus on cell therapies.
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 biotech will also take back the rights to its pipeline from Gilead and discontinue its small molecules program.
3. BMS: 223 in Lawrenceville, New Jersey
In February, Bristol Myers Squibb disclosed two layoffs affecting its Lawrenceville, New Jersey, workforce. The largest involved 223 employees, effective starting May 22 and wrapping up Aug. 1, according to a WARN notice. The other cut—67 people—brought the known number of people let go in Lawrenceville this year to 290. That workforce reduction is effective from April 24 through Dec. 11, according to a WARN notice.
Those were not the only layoffs disclosed in February for Princeton, New Jersey–based BMS. The pharma will also let go of 57 employees at its Redwood City, California, facility. That layoff will be effective April 22, according to a WARN notice.
The three workforce reductions are part of BMS’ deep cost-cutting measures. The company announced in 2024 that it would eliminate about 2,200 jobs by the end of last year as part of a bid to generate approximately $1.5 billion in savings through 2025. BMS announced this year that the strategic reorganization would go deeper, with the pharma now aiming to save $2 billion through 2027.
4. Merck: 163 in Riverside, Pennsylvania
As part of its impending closure of a Riverside, Pennsylvania, manufacturing site, Merck divulged in March that it will let go of 163 employees. The layoffs will take place in three rounds starting May 16 and ending sometime in 2026, according to a WARN notice.
The Rahway, New Jersey–based pharma announced in 2022 that it would close the manufacturing facility after production stopped in 2024, affecting about 300 employees. Remaining employees at the facility were expected to continue supporting it until the official closure. A Merck spokesperson last month told Fierce Pharma that production at the site has ended, with a permanent closure expected sometime in 2026.
The Riverside plant mainly produced the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) component of three antibiotics: ertapenem sodium (EP), an API for Invanz, cilastatin nonsterile for Recarbio and imipenem nonsterile for Primaxin/Tienam. Production of those ingredients will continue at other Merck sites.
5. Gilead: 149 in Foster City, California
In March, Gilead divulged it will once again pare down staff at its Foster City, California, headquarters. The pharma will let go of 149 employees there effective May 27, according to a WARN notice. Those cuts follow Gilead’s November disclosure that it would lay off 104 people in Foster City, effective March 14. That brings the known number of employees let go in Foster City since November to 253.
Regarding the most recent cuts, a Gilead spokesperson told BioSpace the pharma is “continuing to further align our resources as we prepare for the upcoming launch of twice-yearly lenacapavir for HIV prevention and other near-term launches.” In February, the FDA accepted Gilead’s New Drug Application for twice-yearly lenacapavir for HIV prevention. With the regulator’s priority review designation, the pharma is expecting a verdict by June 19.
A Gilead spokesperson told BioSpace the November layoffs were due to the company making changes to further align resources with long-term strategic goals, which included relocating some teams.
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