Layoff Tracker: Tessera Trimming 90 Employees as Part of Pipeline Prioritization

Below is a look at which companies are tightening their belts and cutting staff in 2026, as well as a quick glance at overall data from 2025. For all of last year’s tracker entries, please visit the 2025 recap article.

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.

Tessera Therapeutics
Jan. 8

A month after announcing a partnership with Regeneron to advance its lead gene editor, Tessera Therapeutics has disclosed it will lay off 90 employees. Endpoints News first reported the cuts.

A Tessera spokesperson told Endpoints the organizational changes reflect a pipeline prioritization to advance the Somerville, Massachusetts–based gene editing company’s lead programs in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) and sickle cell disease to the clinic.

The layoffs will include one employee in Colorado and another in Washington, according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notices in those states. Tessera noted that it expects to start the cuts March 8, and no facilities will close.

Several employees told Endpoints the layoffs will affect about 35% of the workforce. The cuts follow a 17% reduction in 2025 and 13% downsizing in 2024.

On Dec. 1, Tessera announced it had formed a $275 million partnership with Regeneron to advance TSRA-196, Tessera’s in vivo gene editor for AATD. The one-time therapy was created to restore the production of functional AATD, a protein that, under healthy conditions, protects the lungs from autoimmune damage.

Nido Biosciences
Jan. 2

Nido Biosciences will shut down early this year, Endpoints News reported following the biotech’s LinkedIn announcement. The Massachusetts-based company did not state how many employees the closure will affect, but a spokesperson told the media outlet the business had a handful of staffers.

According to Nido, results for a Phase II clinical trial of NIDO-361, its lead candidate for patients with spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy, fell short of expectations. With the drug no longer a clinical candidate, the company stated, it will cease operations.

Founded in 2020, Nido launched in 2023 with $109 million in series A, series B and seed financing to develop new small molecules for neurological diseases. Investors included Eli Lilly.

Voyager Therapeutics
Dec. 19

After its partner Novartis cut two programs from an ongoing collaboration, Voyager let 30 employees go, according to reporting from Fierce Biotech. The two companies have been collaborating on producing gene therapy products, without disclosing what indications they were pursuing.

It was not clear how much money Voyager would save with the move or how many employees it would still have afterward. At the end of 2024, Voyager had 172 employees, according to its annual report.

Novartis paid Voyager $100 million upfront to seal the partnership in January 2024, with up to $1.2 billion in milestones on the line. Novartis’ work with Voyager on therapies for Huntington’s disease and spinal muscular atrophy, along with another asset for an undisclosed target, are still ongoing.

For more details, read the article.

Intercept Pharmaceuticals
Dec. 18

Months after withdrawing its only commercial product Ocaliva from the market, Intercept Pharmaceuticals appears to be looking for ways to reduce its cash burn. As part of this savings campaign, the biotech is letting go of 146 employees from its New Jersey campus, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act posting.

The layoffs will start to take effect by end of the year and into the first half of 2026. The staff cuts are expected to be complete by June 30, 2026.

Ocaliva, an oral farnesoid X receptor agonist, was granted accelerated approval in 2016 for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis. The drug has since run into a series of setbacks, including two rejections in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH): one in 2020 and another in 2023. The second rejection forced Intercept to abandon its MASH program entirely.

Then, in September 2024, the FDA flagged “unfavorable trends” in liver transplantation and death in patients treated with the drug—problems that would prompt the agency’s Gastrointestinal Drug Advisory Committee to vote against Ocaliva’s full approval a few days later.

Mythic Therapeutics

Dec. 17

Mythic Therapeutics has come to the end of its potential options. The Boston-based antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) developer is axing its only clinical trial after failing to secure enough capital to keep going, Endpoints News reported Tuesday.

Mythic “pursued various capital solutions during 2025 to fund its continued operations and despite the promise of MYTX-011 such efforts were not successful,” CEO George Eliades told the publication in an email, adding that the company is now in the process of winding down and selling its assets. For any ADC-interested buyers, Eliades told Endpoints that “several are still available.”

Mythic, which launched in December 2021 with $103 million in series B funds to make “safer and smarter” ADCs, had between 11 and 50 employees, according to its LinkedIn profile.

The company in May reported data from a Phase I trial of MYTX-011 in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, showing a preliminary overall response rate (ORR) of 36% in patients with cMET low tumors, 39% in patients with cMET high tumors and 50% in tumors with EGFR mutations and cMET high/intermediate levels. Response durations of up to 8.9 months were observed.

Geron Corporation

Dec. 12

In a bid to reinvigorate sales of its cancer therapy Rytelo, Geron is letting go of a third of its current headcount and said it will use the savings to strengthen its commercial strategy and execution for the drug. The company currently has around 260 employees, meaning the layoffs will affect around 87 people, according to a Thursday news release.

Rytelo was approved in June 2024 as a first-in-class telomerase inhibitor for lower-risk patients with myelodysplastic syndromes with transfusion-dependent anemia. The drug has struggled in the market, only bringing in $47.2 million in the third quarter—a 3% quarter-on-quarter decline. The company is also studying Rytelo in the Phase III IMpactMF study in relapsed/refractory myelofibrosis.

Geron expects the layoffs to be “substantially complete” early next year, according to its press announcement. The company will incur undisclosed restructuring costs but will start realizing savings from the effort in the first quarter of 2026.

Pfizer

Dec. 12

Pfizer will part ways with more than 200 employees across Switzerland as part of a continuing effort to slow its cash burn, according to a report from Bloomberg on Dec. 10.

After the layoffs, the pharma expects its Switzerland headcount to shrink to around 70 people, down from 300, the publication noted, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. Pfizer expects to complete this workforce reduction by the end of the year. In a statement to Bloomberg, a company representative said that the pharma is “streamlining and realigning” resources in an effort to reduce operational complexity.

Since first announcing a sweeping, multi-year cost realignment effort in October 2023, Pfizer has cut roughly 2,000 employees across its global operations. That same year, the company let go of around 850 employees, affecting sites in Connecticut and Michigan, as well as various offices in Europe. In 2024, Pfizer put 700 jobs on the chopping block. The pharma has eliminated some 150 posts so far this year, not counting the Swiss cuts.

Adare Pharma Solutions

Dec. 11

Contract manufacturer Adare Pharma Solutions will part ways with 137 employees as it closes down a production facility in Philadelphia, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act posting. The layoffs will take effect from March 1 through June 30 next year.

In a statement to the Philadelphia Inquirer, a company spokesperson said the decision to close its Philadelphia site was driven by “adverse economic conditions for our clients.”

In August 2024, Adare unveiled plans to move its headquarters to Pennsylvania from New Jersey, prompted by Philadelphia’s $3 million investment in the company. The move, according to the manufacturer, would open at least 115 “new, well-paying jobs” in the area, as well as maintain some 200 existing posts. More than a year later, in October this year, the company announced it had expanded its footprint in Milan, Italy, with a new packaging hall and warehouse.

Valneva
Dec. 1

In an effort to consolidate its operations, Valneva will shutter its site in Nantes, France and concentrate its operations in Lyon, the French biotech said in a Nov. 26 release. Confirming the initiative to Fierce Biotech the same day, a company spokesperson added that the move will leave 30 employees at the Nantes facility jobless.

Valneva was conducting operational and pre-clinical R&D work at Nantes. The site’s shuttering there will not affect any of its early programs, the spokesperson added. Following the Nantes closure, Valneva will relocate its registered office to Lyon and consolidate its R&D activities in Vienna.

It is unclear when the layoffs will take effect and how much they will cost Valneva in severance and other related payments.

Valneva is mainly involved in the development of vaccines. In August, the FDA suspended the approval of its chikungunya shot Ixchiq after detecting “serious safety concerns,” including one death that the regulator said was “directly attributable” to the product. The company has one other product in the U.S.: the Japanese encephalitis shot Ixiaro.

Novartis
Nov. 25

Novartis will cut 550 full-time jobs by the end of 2027 at a facility in its home country of Switzerland, according to a report by Reuters. The cuts come as the pharma is ending production of tablets and capsules and sterile medicines packaging at a plant in Stein, Switzerland. Meanwhile, Novartis is investing $80 million in another Swiss site in Schweizerhalle, where 80 new positions will be added by the end of 2028.

The changes do not have anything to do with Novartis’ manufacturing expansion in the U.S., the company asserted. Last week, Novartis announced plans to build a manufacturing hub in North Carolina as part of its $23 billion investment plan in American manufacturing. The investment is part of an effort to relieve pressure from President Donald Trump who has threatened to levy tariffs against pharmas that do not onshore manufacturing.

Nurix Therapeutics
Nov. 21

Not long after launching a Phase II clinical trial for its lead cancer asset and following a regular operational review, Nurix Therapeutics is laying off an undisclosed number of employees, Fierce Biotech has reported.

A spokesperson for the Brisbane, California–based biotech told Fierce in a statement that the company regularly reviews its operations to ensure it’s effectively prioritizing programs with the greatest potential to advance its science and maximize pipeline value. As part of that review, the company has implemented a “small, targeted reduction in force” to align resources with strategic priorities and support the continued progression of clinical and research programs. While the spokesperson would not say how many people Nurix let go, they did tell the media outlet no programs have been cut or paused.

The biotech, which is working to discover, develop and commercialize targeted protein degradation medicines in oncology and autoimmune diseases, in October launched a clinical trial of bexobrutideg (NX-5948) in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Ensoma
Nov. 20

As it transitions into a clinical-stage company, genetic therapy startup Ensoma is leaving behind half of its employees. The announcement of layoffs was first made in a Nov. 19 LinkedIn post by CEO Jim Burns, who later confirmed to Endpoints News that only 37 workers will remain with the company.

“In today’s environment, growth and progress require financial discipline,” Burns wrote, noting that Ensoma is “now a clinical-stage company” and is working on recruiting patients for its first clinical study. The startup’s pipeline is anchored by its investigational in vivo hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) therapy EN-374, being tested for X-linked chronic granulomatous disease, a genetic condition that renders white blood cells incapable of staving off infections. Ensoma is also working on sickle cell disease.

Aside from these programs, the biotech is likewise “making oncology a greater strategic focus,” Burns added in his post, claiming that the company’s HSC platform can help “meaningfully improve how solid tumors are treated.”

AbbVie
Nov. 20

AbbVie is laying off 59 employees across three California sites effective Jan. 9, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) act notice processed Nov. 13. The North Chicago–based pharma is letting go of 48 people in Dublin, nine in Livermore and two in Pleasanton. AbbVie will permanently close the Dublin and Livermore sites after Jan. 9.

BioSpace contacted AbbVie with questions about the layoffs, including the reason behind them, but did not receive a response as of publication. However, a source familiar with the matter told BioSpace that the WARN notice is unrelated to the pharma ending its relationship with South San Francisco–based Calico Life Sciences. According to a Nov. 12 report from STAT News, that move will involve layoffs affecting around 100 AbbVie chemists.

Nxera Pharma
Nov. 19

Nxera Pharma will part ways with 15% of its employees in a sweeping realignment initiative that the Tokyo-based employer hopes will enhance its “path to profitability” and help it hit its growth and revenue targets for 2030. The layoffs will affect around 56 people across the company’s Japan and U.K. operations, based on a 2024 annual report, which listed 374 employees at the end of last year.

Nxera is also cutting its executive team from 10 people to seven, effective March 2026.

For more details, read the article.

Sensei Biotherapeutics
Nov. 19

Late last month, Sensei Biotherapeutics warned it would implement an additional workforce reduction as it conducted a strategic review of its business. The Boston-based biotech has now revealed how deep those cuts will be.

In its third-quarter earnings report on Nov. 14, Sensei announced it will downsize by roughly 65% and maintain only a “small team of employees” to look for strategic alternatives and continue compliance with financial reporting requirements. As per its annual report, the company had 14 full-time employees and one part-time worker as of March 24. This means the latest round of layoffs will affect around nine people.

For more details, read the article.

Bayer
Nov. 19

While Bayer’s workforce cuts continued in the third quarter of 2025, the pace slowed slightly and should continue slowing, according to the pharma’s CEO. Based on employee counts in second- and third-quarter earnings statements, the company was down 1,054 people at the end of Q3, a 1% quarter-over-quarter decrease and less than Q2’s 1.4% dip from Q1.

Germany-based Bayer has now let go of about 13,500 employees since rolling out its dynamic shared ownership (DSO) model in January 2024, according to the company’s latest earnings presentation. During a Q3 earnings call Nov. 12, CEO Bill Anderson said that moving forward, he anticipates that cuts will continue but will just be “incremental attrition.” He added that there will be a decrease in crop science employment, as Bayer is looking to improve profitability in that area.

For more details, read the article.

AbbVie
Nov. 19

After more than a decade of chipping away at aging-related diseases, AbbVie has decided to call it quits with Google’s Calico Life Sciences. The move, according to a Nov. 12 report from STAT News, will involve layoffs affecting around 100 chemists. AbbVie will use the saved money to fund its biologics and cell and RNA therapies.

AbbVie first joined with Calico in September 2014, with each company committing $250 million upfront to focus on finding therapies for aging-related diseases. Almost four years later, in June 2018, the partners deepened the relationship, each adding $500 million more to their shared pot.

For more details, read the article.

Merck
Nov. 18

Merck is letting go of 204 employees from its Rahway, New Jersey location, continuing its aggressive layoff spree in recent months. According to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification posting, the terminations will take place from Feb. 20 through May 11, 2026.

Merck in late July kicked off a $3 billion savings campaign in a bid to support at least 20 product launches in the coming quarters. The pharma has broken down this target to $1.7 annual savings, with the full $3 billion sum realized by the end of 2027. Because the money will go toward its programs nearing the market, CEO Rob Davis at the time referred to this initiative as more of a reallocation of resources than an outright cut.

A few days later, however, Merck put some 6,000 jobs on the chopping block, corresponding to an 8% workforce reduction across its global operations. In September, the pharma abandoned previous plans to construct a $1.3 billion R&D center in London, in the process leaving around 125 people in the region jobless.

Merck’s efforts contributed to the nearly 23,300 terminated positions across the biopharma industry in the third quarter, representing a 280% year-on-year increase in layoffs, as per a BioSpace tally.

Bristol Myers Squibb
Nov. 17

Bristol Myers Squibb’s New Jersey workforce can’t seem to catch a break. The pharma has announced another round of layoffs in the region, this time affecting 110 employees at the Lawrence Township site. According to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification posting, the terminations will take effect in February and March 2026.

In September, BMS likewise hit the Lawrence job market hard, parting ways with 282 employees, effective beginning in December and extending into February and March of next year. The pharma has reduced its workforce in New Jersey a handful of other times this year: once in July, twice in May and twice in February.

BMS is in the midst of an aggressive savings push. In April last year, the pharma announced its goal to cut spending by $1.5 billion, realized partly through layoffs, leaving some 2,200 people across the company jobless in 2024. In February this year, BMS upped its savings target by $2 billion, which it expects to meet by 2027.

Blueprint Medicines
Nov. 14

Months after being swallowed by Sanofi, an undisclosed number of employees at Blueprint Medicines will be losing their jobs, a spokesperson for the pharma confirmed to BioSpace.

“Following the transaction, a joint governance committee conducted a comprehensive portfolio review to prioritize programs that align with Sanofi’s R&D strategy and offer the greatest patient value,” the spokesperson said in an email, noting that this realignment initiative “will impact some individuals.” Sanofi has promised to provide affected employees “comprehensive support” such as “severance packages.”

The spokesperson declined to reveal how many staff will be laid off, or if the terminations have already taken place, only saying in a separate email that “those who are impacted . . . have been notified.”

Alongside the layoffs, Sanofi will also be discontinuing “certain pre-clinical programs,” the spokesperson added, however likewise refusing to reveal what these programs are. Pruning its pipeline, the spokesperson continued, will allow the pharma to focus on assets that have “the highest probability of success and patient impact.” These candidates include Blueprint’s elenestinib, being tested for systemic mastocytosis.

Sanofi acquired Blueprint in June this year for $9.5 billion.

Gilead Sciences
Nov. 14

Gilead Sciences’ cuts in Oceanside, California, continue, this time affecting 17 people, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) act notice. The layoffs are effective Jan. 16 at the location, which supports clinical manufacturing and process development for the Foster City, California–based pharma and subsidiary Kite Pharma. Gilead has now let go of 53 people at the site.

The earlier Oceanside cuts were disclosed in June and affected 36 employees effective Aug. 15. Fierce Biotech reported at the time that according to a Gilead spokesperson, the company had decided to co-locate the biologics development and manufacturing teams with their R&D counterparts. That move, the spokesperson told Fierce, included transitioning most biologics roles from Oceanside to Foster City.

The latest cuts are the third known layoffs this year for Gilead, which let go of 149 people in Foster City effective May 27. That workforce reduction affected scientific and technical services staff. In total, Gilead has disclosed layoffs this year affecting 202 people in California.

Korro Bio
Nov. 14

Following a failed Phase I/II trial for its only clinical candidate, Korro Bio has implemented a strategic restructuring that includes layoffs, the company announced Nov. 12. The RNA editing biotech is cutting 34% of its staff, according to an SEC filing. Cambridge, Massachusetts–based Korro had 87 employees as of Sept. 30, as noted in a quarterly report, meaning the workforce reduction could affect around 30 people.

The biotech is abandoning KRRO-110 after it failed to produce adequate levels of a key protein associated with a genetic lung and liver disease. The REWRITE trial was testing the candidate, an RNA editing oligonucleotide delivered via a lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery system, in healthy volunteers and clinically stable patients with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), a genetic disease where patients lack the alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) protein.

Korro also laid off employees earlier this year, announcing in May it would cut 20% of its staff to streamline operations and extend its cash runway into 2027. The latest cuts are expected to extend the runway a bit further, into the second half of 2027.

For more details, read the article.

Ventus Therapeutics
Nov. 14

Ventus Therapeutics is laying off employees for the second time this year, Fierce Biotech has reported. The Waltham, Massachusetts–based biotech is adjusting its workforce to “better align with who Ventus is today,” a spokesperson told the media outlet. The company did not disclose how many employees it’s letting go.

Ventus, which is advancing small molecule programs for immunological, inflammatory and neurological disorders, also confirmed layoffs to Fierce in July. A company spokesperson told the media outlet the biotech was “calibrating” its internal resources and planned to advance two programs through Phase II testing. They did not specify how many employees the cuts affected.

nChroma Bio
Nov. 13

Boston-based nChroma Bio is parting ways with an undisclosed number of employees as it shifts its pipeline priorities, Fierce Biotech reported Nov. 12. Fierce cited a company spokesperson, who declined to provide a specific number of affected employees or give the total number of staff still with nChroma.

With the pipeline reorientation, nChroma will now move forward with a focus on CRMA-1001, an epigenetic therapy being tested for chronic hepatitis B, for which it is undergoing clinical trial application-enabling studies. According to the biotech’s website, CRMA-1001 has the potential to be a “functional cure” for hepatitis B.

At the 2025 meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases last week, nChroma presented preclinical data for CRMA-1001, touting “robust” suppression of viral markers in various models. The company also demonstrated that the drug was compatible with current standard of care therapies, underlining its potential to be part of a combination regimen.

The biotech aims to start first-in-human studies for CRMA-1001 early next year.

Metagenomi
Nov. 13

Metagenomi has parted ways with 25% of its employees, leaving the Emeryville, California–based company with 124 staffers, according to an SEC filing. The move is part of a strategic reorientation effort designed to throw more support behind a hemophilia A program MGX-001 and extend the cash runway for a few more quarters.

The “strategic evolution” of Metagenomi, announced Nov. 11 alongside the company’s third-quarter results, also includes the departure of Brian Thomas as CEO, although he remains with the biotech as a board member. Jian Irish, who was president and chief operating officer, is now president and CEO, according to the SEC filing.

For more details, read the article.

Kezar Life Sciences
Nov. 13

Kezar Life Sciences is laying off about 70% of its workforce after the company failed to square things away with the FDA on plans for its investigational autoimmune hepatitis drug. The company is letting go of 31 employees, according to a Nov. 10 SEC filing. The move will cost Kezar about $6 million in one-time fees, which will go on the balance sheet in the fourth quarter.

The company in October announced it was planning layoffs after the FDA canceled a fourth-quarter Type C meeting to discuss a study of zetomipzomib, a small molecule therapy for patients with relapsed and refractory autoimmune hepatitis.

For more details, read the article.

Catalent
Nov. 10

Catalent is again cutting its Maryland gene therapy workforce, this time axing 77 employees, including 61 in Harmans and 14 in Baltimore, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice. The Tampa, Florida–based contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) is laying off staff due to continued issues in demand from a “large commercial customer,” Endpoints News reported. Catalent’s cuts are effective Jan. 5.

This is the company’s second round of layoffs in Maryland in 2025. According to an August WARN notice, the CDMO also let go of 353 employees—including 316 in Harmans and 32 in Baltimore—effective last month. The total cuts disclosed this year for Maryland is now 430 people.

Endpoints News reported that the earlier workforce reduction was due to an expected shift in demand from an unidentified customer, adding that one of Catalent’s large Baltimore facility customers is Sarepta Therapeutics, which had faced recent challenges. The Cambridge, Massachusetts–based biotech in July announced it was letting go of about 500 employees following a strategic review. That news came soon after two deaths were linked to Sarepta’s Duchenne muscular dystrophy treatment Elevidys.

TScan Therapeutics
Nov. 3

T cell therapy biotech TScan Therapeutics is conducting a 30% workforce reduction and refocusing its pipeline in an effort to extend its cash runway into the second half of 2027.

After receiving feedback from the FDA, TScan is preparing a pivotal study for acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes treatment TSC-101. In order to fund that trial, the company is pausing enrollment of a Phase I solid tumor trial and focusing preclinical efforts on in vivo-engineered T cell receptor-engineered T cell therapies for solid tumors and on target discovery for autoimmunity, according to a Nov. 3 release.

This means that about 66 employees are headed out the door. TScan expects about $45 million in savings in 2026 and 2027 from the changes.

Inventprise
Oct. 30

Vaccine biotech Inventprise is conducting a “mass layoff” at sites in Washington and Nebraska, plus remote workers, according to a WARN notice dated Oct. 30. The first round of layoffs will be effective December 31, with additional rounds in February and March. In total, the cuts will impact 76 employees.

A company spokesperson told Fierce Biotech that the layoffs are being conducted to extend resources and improve long-term sustainability.

Inventprise has been around since 2012 and has developed a pipeline of vaccines, including the Phase II pneumococcal shot IVT PCV-25. The vaccine is being developed for adults and infants.

Sensei Biotherapeutics
Oct. 30

About a year after nearly halving its workforce, Sensei Biotherapeutics has announced it expects to lay off employees to preserve cash as it reviews strategic alternatives such as a sale, merger or wind-down. The Rockville, Maryland–based biotech, which develops therapeutics for cancer patients, is also discontinuing development of solnerstotug, which had been moving through a Phase I/II clinical trial.

Sensei had 15 employees, one of whom was part time, as of March 24, according to its annual report. The company noted in its announcement that it plans to retain a small team to help strategize, comply with regulatory and financial reporting requirements and manage winding down development activities.

The expected layoffs follow significant cuts last year. In November, Sensei announced it was letting go of 46% of its employees and closing its Rockville research site. The company, which has office and lab space in Boston in addition to its Rockville executive offices, had expected those moves to extend its cash runway into the second quarter of 2026.

Genentech
Oct. 30

For the third time this year, Roche subsidiary Genentech is laying off employees at its South San Francisco headquarters. According to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice, 118 staffers will lose their jobs effective Nov. 28.

Genentech disclosed layoffs of 87 employees in July and 143 in May. The total number of its staff let go in South San Francisco this year is now 348.

The latest layoff news comes about two months after the biotech ended its partnership with Adaptive Biotechnologies. Genentech has now let go of over 800 employees since April 2024.

For more details, read the article.

Ferring Pharmaceuticals
Oct. 28

Ferring Pharmaceuticals, which earlier this month announced it will cut up to 500 employees globally, is letting go of 64 people in Parsippany, New Jersey, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice. The New Jersey workforce reduction is effective starting Jan. 23. It will wrap up July 31.

Switzerland-based Ferring is cutting its global workforce to sharpen its strategic focus, improve cost efficiencies, gain flexibility and free up resources for reinvestment in innovation, according to its Oct. 7 announcement. The pharma noted that it had informed affected employees about the layoffs. Ferring has 7,500 employees across its headquarters and subsidiaries in more than 50 countries.

For more details about the global cuts, read the article.

Alector
Oct. 23

GSK-partnered Alector will pull the plug on its investigational antibody latozinemab, which it had been developing for a genetic form of frontotemporal dementia, and cut 49% of its workforce, the company announced Oct. 21. The layoffs will affect about 75 employees at the South San Francisco–based biotech, according to an SEC filing. Alector expects to complete the cuts during the first half of 2026.

This is the second round of layoffs the company has divulged in 2025. In March, Alector disclosed it was letting go of about 13% of its workforce, which was about 25 people. That news came a little over three months after the biotech announced a plan to cut around 17% of its staff in the first half of 2025.

For more details, read the article.

Galapagos
Oct. 22

Galapagos intends to shutter its cell therapy business, which would affect about 365 employees across Europe, the United States and China and include site closures in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the biotech announced Oct. 21.

In the press release, Belgium-based Galapagos CEO Henry Gosebruch revealed that the company had undertaken a “thorough” process of searching for potential buyers for its cell therapy unit. “Ultimately no viable proposals were received,” he added, with none of the offers providing financial terms that would “reasonably support the business’ future.”

Still, Galapagos will consider viable proposals to acquire all or part of its cell therapy business during the wind-down process, according to the press release.

For more details, read the article.

Kezar Life Sciences
Oct. 17

Unable to align with the FDA on a potential registrational clinical trial of immunoproteasome inhibitor zetomipzomib in patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), Kezar Life Sciences will lay off employees, the company announced Oct. 16. It did not state how many staff it will cut. Kezar had 55 full-time employees as of Dec. 31, according to its 2024 annual report.

The South San Francisco–based biotech, which develops small molecule therapeutics to treat unmet needs in immune-mediated diseases, is also exploring strategic alternatives.

The FDA canceled a fourth-quarter meeting to discuss the proposed study of zetomipzomib in patients with relapsed and refractory AIH, according to Kezar. The move came a few months after the agency lifted a partial clinical hold it had placed on zetomipzomib in November. That hold had barred four trial participants with AIH from continuing treatment in the open-label portion of the trial. Earlier this year, in March, Kezar reported positive safety and efficacy data from a Phase IIa clinical trial of zetomipzomib in patients with AIH.

In its Oct. 16 announcement, Kezar noted that its workforce reduction is part of restructuring that will include other cost-containment and cash conservation measures. As of Sept. 30, the company had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaling approximately $90.2 million.

Novo Nordisk
Oct. 16

As part of its restructuring that includes cutting about 9,000 employees globally, Novo Nordisk is laying off U.S. employees this week and continuing into next week, Reuters reported Oct. 15. The media outlet was unable to confirm how many people are being let go.

Reuters noted that based on an email it received, affected departments include HR, clinical development, rare diseases, medical and regulatory, legal, ethics and compliance, marketing and sales, finance and public affairs.

Novo announced its reorganization Sept. 10, sharing that cuts would begin immediately. At least two U.S. layoffs followed shortly after. The company is letting go of 263 people in New Jersey effective Dec. 31, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice published a week after the announcement. On Oct. 7, Reuters reported that Novo’s layoff campaign appeared to be heavily affecting its manufacturing operations, as the media outlet had identified 47 former employees at the pharma’s plant in Clayton, North Carolina, who had posted on LinkedIn that they were looking for work or had been laid off. Those cuts likely took place in late September, based on a Reddit post.

Novo Nordisk
Oct. 14

Novo Nordisk will stop working on cell therapy, including a type 1 diabetes candidate, as new CEO Maziar Mike Doustdar seeks to chart a new direction for the Danish drugmaker.

“We are in the process of identifying partners with the right capabilities and manufacturing capacity to further develop our innovations” in cell therapy, according to a Novo spokesperson, who confirmed the news to Fierce Biotech on Oct. 10. Citing privacy and “respect for the employees involved,” the spokesperson declined to provide details about the affected offices or areas.

Almost all of Novo’s 250 cell therapy employees will be laid off, Fierce reported, citing the Danish outlet Borsen.

For more details, read the article.

Ferring Pharmaceuticals
Oct. 10

Privately held Ferring Pharmaceuticals will part ways with up to 500 employees across its global operations in a bid to “sharpen” its strategic focus and gain “flexibility” as a company.

The layoffs, announced Oct. 7, will mean an approximately 7% headcount reduction. Ferring said that it employed 7,500 staffers across its headquarters in Switzerland and subsidiaries in more than 50 countries. Aside from the terminations, the strategic initiative could also lead to the “geographic relocations” of certain roles “to better reflect strategic priorities.”

For more details, read the article.

Ascidian Therapeutics
Oct. 10

Boston-based Ascidian Therapeutics had a modest reduction in force over the summer affecting an undisclosed number of employees, Fierce Biotech reported. Fierce noted that the layoffs came alongside the biotech’s renewed focus on ACDN-01, its leading clinical asset, as well as its most promising preclinical RNA exon editing programs.

Ascidian in June announced it had created an ophthalmology clinical advisory board to help advance ACDN-01 for treatment of Stargardt disease—a type of macular degeneration—and other retinal disorders. The lead candidate is being evaluated in a Phase I/II trial.

Novo Nordisk
Oct. 8

Novo Nordisk’s massive layoff campaign appears to be heavily affecting its manufacturing operations, according to a recent analysis by Reuters, which involved a review of more than 70 LinkedIn posts.

The publication identified 47 former employees at the pharma’s plant in Clayton, North Carolina, who had posted on LinkedIn that they were seeking work or had been laid off. The plant is where the blockbuster obesity drug semaglutide is produced. It remains unclear how many exactly were affected at this plant, and a spokesperson for Novo declined to provide Reuters with additional details.

One terminated employee told Reuters they were under a non-disclosure agreement that prevented them from speaking to reporters.

Novo last month unveiled a sweeping restructuring initiative, set to begin “immediately,” that will leave some 9,000 employees across its global workforce jobless. The goal, the pharma said at the time, was to generate around $1.25 billion in annualized savings through 2026. This effort is the first major move of new CEO Maziar Mike Doustdar, who during the pharma’s Q2 call highlighted the “need to reallocate” its spending and “look at our cost base and really put the money where the growth is.”

Pharming
Oct. 7

In a bid to accelerate its growth, Netherlands-based Pharming has implemented an organization restructuring initiative that will involve a 20% reduction in headcount, according to an Oct. 6 announcement.

At the end of 2024, Pharming had 404 full-time equivalent employees across its global operations, including 148 people in the U.S., according to its annual report. These latest layoffs, therefore, could impact some 81 workers. It is unclear how many of the affected employees will be in the U.S., but Pharming has indicated that the terminations will focus on its non-commercial and non-medical staff.

The company anticipates around $7 million in one-time costs in connection with the layoffs. Savings from this initiative are expected to hit $10 million annually.

In the second quarter, Pharming brought in $93.2 million in revenues, up 26% year-on-year. The vast bulk of its topline was driven by its hereditary angioedema drug Ruconest and the activated phosphoinositide 3-kinase delta syndrome therapy Joenja, which brought in $80.4 million and $12.8 million, respectively. Cash position at the end of Q2 was at $130.8 million.

Mythic Therapeutics
Oct. 6

As part of refocusing its business to prioritize lead program MYTX-011, oncology biotech Mythic Therapeutics has cut an unspecified number of employees, according to a company statement provided to BioSpace. The Waltham, Massachusetts–based business did not disclose which departments the layoffs affected.

“Our focus remains on advancing MYTX-011, a therapy that we believe could profoundly impact the lives of patients, and this reprioritization enables us to continue delivering on that commitment,” the statement noted.

Mythic, which launched in 2021 with a $103 million oversubscribed series B financing round, is working to develop next-generation antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) therapies to treat a wide range of cancers. MYTX-011 is a cMET-targeting ADC designed to boost cMET-dependent uptake and increase delivery of chemotherapy inside cancer cells while reducing uptake in healthy cells.

The biotech last month posted on LinkedIn about the staff cuts. “These past two weeks have been some of the most difficult in Mythic’s 8-year journey to bring the transformative impact of ADCs to more patients. We said goodbye to colleagues and friends who contributed greatly to our mission and more.”

CSL Vifor
Oct. 3

CSL Vifor will part ways with 55 employees, according to a Pennsylvania Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice. The layoffs will take effect on Dec. 1.

The affected employees belong to Vifor Pharma, which in December 2021 was acquired by CSL in an $11.7 billion agreement. The takeover was formally completed in August 2022, after which Vifor assumed the name CSL Vifor.

Fierce Pharma has reported that according to a Vifor spokesperson, the 55 employees being let go are spread out across the country but report up through the company’s headquarters in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, which is what triggered the WARN notice.

CSL enacted a sweeping business overhaul in August this year, spinning out its vaccines unit into its own separate and independent unit, now called CSL Sequirus. Meanwhile, CSL Vifor and another business unit, CSL Behring, each integrated their medical and commercial operations to improve synergy between these functions.

The strategic overhaul involved a 15% workforce reduction, affecting around 4,350 employees.

Editor’s note (Oct. 8): This tracker entry was updated to clarify the location of the affected employees based on newly available details from Fierce Pharma.

Bolt Biotherapeutics
Oct. 3

In an effort to extend its runway into 2027, California’s Bolt Biotherapeutics will let go of 50% of its employees, the company announced on Oct. 2. Around 20 workers will be affected, according to an SEC document, with the layoffs expected to be complete by the end of the year. Bolt expects to absorb around $1.5 million to $2 million in one-time costs, primarily due to severance payments and benefits.

The layoffs come amid a delay in Phase I dose escalation data for Bolt’s antibody conjugate BDC-4812. The company had previously expected to deliver data from this study in the “first half of 2026,” CEO Willie Quinn said in an Aug. 15 news release. The readout will now come in the third quarter of next year, according to the Oct. 2 announcement.

In May last year, Bolt was also forced to enact a “strategic prioritization” initiative, including a 50% workforce reduction, after the disappointing performance of the now-scrapped cancer drug trastuzumab imbotolimod, which Quinn at the time said “did not meet our high bar for advancement.”

Takeda
Oct. 3

Takeda will no longer invest in cell therapies moving forward as the pharma reassesses its pipeline priorities and works to boost the efficiency and productivity of its business.

The Japanese multinational has no active cell therapy clinical trials, according to an announcement on Oct. 3. In conjunction with the move away from cell therapy, Takeda is looking to offload its cell therapy platform to an external partner, where the company expects the clinic-ready programs will continue to advance. As part of its cell therapy exit, pharma will absorb 58 billion Japanese Yen ($394 million) in impairment charges.

The company is also laying off 137 employees as part of the move, according to reporting from the Boston Business Journal. According to an Oct. 1 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice, those staffers, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, are being let go effective Jan. 1 through July 31, 2026.

For more details, read the story.

Editor’s note (Oct. 5): This tracker entry was updated to add newly available details about the location and effective dates for the laid-off employees.

GSK
Oct. 2

Pharma giant GSK continues to shed employees, this time with an 8-person round of layoffs at its San Francisco, California site, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification posting. The terminations were effective Sept. 29.

GSK has enacted a couple of other workforce reductions this year. There were two rounds in July, for instance: The first affected a “very limited number” of employees across its global R&D workforce, while the second involved 150 people at its Cambridge, Massachusetts campus, following the relocation of its vaccine manufacturing operations to a Pennsylvania site.

Also on Sept. 29, GSK announced that its CEO Emma Walmsley, the first woman to lead a big pharma company, will leave her post and hand over the reins to Luke Miels, currently the company’s chief commercial officer.

IO Biotech
Oct. 1

After being told by the FDA that it had insufficient data to submit an application for its cancer vaccine, New York-based IO Biotech was forced to kick off a cash conservation initiative that will involve downsizing by “approximately” 50%, according to a Sept. 29 company press release.

According to IO Biotech’s second-quarter report, it had 78 full-time employees as of June 30, meaning the layoffs will affect around 39 people. At the time, the company said it had $28.1 million in cash and cash equivalents, enough to keep it going “for at least 12 months.” In its news release on Sept. 29, however, IO Biotech said its runway will keep going into the first quarter of 2026.

The restructuring effort will cost the company $1 million to $1.5 million in one-time charges, which it expected to record in the third quarter.

IO Biotech is developing the cancer vaccine Cylembio. According to the company, the FDA in a pre-BLA meeting recommended against submitting a regulatory application for the asset, citing a failed Phase III trial. Data released in August this year showed that Cylembio, when combined with Merck’s Keytruda, failed to significantly improve progression-free survival in patients with advanced melanoma.

KALA BIO
Oct. 1

Massachusetts’ KALA BIO will part ways with 19 employees, corresponding to around 51% of its workforce, after the disappointing mid-stage performance of its eye therapy KPI-012. In an SEC filing on Sept. 29, KALA noted that it is looking at its strategic options moving forward, and that the layoffs will help it conserve cash while it does so. The terminations will be “substantially complete” in the fourth quarter.

KPI-012, a topical ophthalmic solution, was being developed for persistent corneal epithelial defect (PCED), an eye disease characterized by a non-healing wound of the cornea that doesn’t close within 2 weeks of the injury, despite standard care.

Without providing specific data, KALA on Sept. 29 revealed that KPI-012 did not meet its primary efficacy endpoint in a Phase IIb study, unable to elicit complete healing of PCED. The asset also missed its key secondary endpoints, according to the biotech. KALA will discontinue the development of KPI-012 and stop work on its mesenchymal stem cell secretome platform, which uses the factors and various compounds secreted by these stem cells.

Sutro
Oct. 1

Sutro Biopharma is letting go of one third of its workforce in a bid to save money and keep the lights on. The South San Francisco–based company will use the money saved to focus on three antibody-drug conjugate programs, as well as its research and development collaborations.

“After continued review of our business and pipeline priorities, we have identified and are implementing further operational efficiencies to focus our resources where they will have the greatest impact,” Sutro CEO Jane Chung said in a statement on Sept. 29.

This is the second large-scale layoff for Sutro this year. In March, the company terminated 50% of its employees and closed a manufacturing-support facility in San Mateo, California. That series of maneuvers is expected to finish by the end of 2025.

Because of that still-in-progress round of layoffs, it’s unclear how many more employees will be affected by this new workforce reduction. In a June SEC filing, Sutro said that after the first round of firings, the company would have 182 full-time staffers. If one third of that figure were let go in this new round, that would equal about 60 employees lost, bringing Sutro’s headcount down to around 120.

According to Sept. 29 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notices, effective Sept. 30, 45 employees were let go in South San Francisco; eight in San Carlos, California; and one who worked remotely.

For more details, read the article.

Editor’s note (Oct. 5): This tracker entry was updated to add newly available details about the number of employees let go who worked in San Francisco, in San Carlos and remotely.

Looking for more data from 2025? Please visit the 2025 recap article.