As companies invest billions of dollars to reshore manufacturing, 10 biotech and pharma businesses are reportedly trimming staff at manufacturing locations in 2026 or the coming years, with BioNTech having the deepest cuts.
This year’s made or planned layoffs at biotech and pharma manufacturing facilities stand to put at least 4,000 people out of work, based on BioSpace tallies. Through Oct. 28, 10 biopharmas cut or projected they would cut 4,062 employees at their plants, several of which are shuttering.
The BioNTech workforce is taking the biggest hit, as the Germany-based biotech’s expected layoffs will affect 1,860 people. In a quarterly report released in May, the company disclosed it plans to exit multiple manufacturing sites because they will become underused or idle in the next 24 months. BioNTech expects to shutter facilities in Idar-Oberstein and Marburg, Germany, by the end of 2027, affecting about 440 and 540 positions, respectively, and in Singapore in Q1 2027, impacting around 60 jobs.
BioNTech also plans to exit CureVac’s German and international sites by the end of 2027, affecting about 820 roles. BioNTech acquired CureVac last year in a $1.25 billion all-stock deal.
Biopharma companies’ made and planned manufacturing facility layoffs did not surprise Eric Langer, managing partner and president of BioPlan Associates, which provides biopharma and healthcare market information and research services. In an emailed response to BioSpace, Langer put the numbers into perspective.
“Surgical cuts are not uncommon occurrences, and an average of 300 staff per company at large organizations may not have a major impact on overall biopharma operations,” he said.
Caitlin Prendes, vice president of CMC at Abcentra, a Los Angeles–based biotech, told BioSpace in an emailed response that the layoff numbers are concerning but not surprising given the pressures and environment biotechs and pharmas face. Companies, she said, are responding to changes in product demand, preparing for upcoming major patent cliffs and reacting to clinical and regulatory setbacks, including recent trial failures. At the same time, Prendes noted, they’re trying to find ways to fund new assets while cutting costs.
“Policy uncertainty adds complexity to those decisions, while AI and automation offer opportunities to improve productivity—although I wouldn’t assume they are driving the layoffs we are seeing today,” she added.
Regarding what is driving biopharmas’ manufacturing facility layoffs this year, Prendes said the most direct drivers could be changes in specific product demand, product setbacks and company-specific restructuring.
“Manufacturing capacity is built around expectations for particular medicines,” she said. “Those expectations can change due to low commercial demand, clinical trial failures, or a myriad of other reasons. When capacity exceeds demand, companies may have more capacity than they can sustainably support, leading to layoffs and site closures.”
Prendes added that patent cliffs add pressure because companies must prepare for potential reduction in revenue and demand while simultaneously investing in replacement products. That, she said, can lead to outcomes including consolidation and outsourcing to contract development and manufacturing organizations.
Several layoffs take place alongside reshoring efforts
Of the 10 biopharmas making or planning cuts, five have made manufacturing investments of $1 billion or more in the past three years: Gilead, GSK, Merck and Pfizer in 2025 and Novo in 2024. All but Novo made their commitments after President Donald Trump’s 2025 threat to levy tariffs on companies that don’t reshore manufacturing operations.
Merck and Pfizer have committed to the largest investments. Pfizer made its announcement first, at the end of September 2025. The New York–based pharma committed $70 billion to U.S. research, development and capital projects. While Pfizer did not specifically say the money would go toward manufacturing, Trump described the commitment as an investment in reshoring domestic manufacturing facilities.
New Jersey–based Merck made its announcement in October 2025. The pharma committed to investing more than $70 billion to expand U.S. manufacturing and research and development. That investment included construction of a $3 billion, 400,000-square-foot pharmaceutical manufacturing facility at Merck’s Elkton, Virginia, site. The move was expected to potentially add more than 500 full-times roles at the facility.
However, as Prendes noted, a shift to more domestic production doesn’t ensure that a given U.S. facility will continue to grow. Pfizer’s projected cuts at manufacturing sites include letting go of around 150 employees in Portage, Michigan, MLive reported. The pharma’s statement to MLive connected those cuts to lower projected demand for some products manufactured at the facility.
In addition, Pfizer will lay off an undisclosed number of staff at the pharma’s Rocky Mount and Sanford, North Carolina, manufacturing sites, according to the Triangle Business Journal.
Merck, meanwhile, laid off 147 employees at its vaccine manufacturing plant in Durham, North Carolina, effective May 1. The cuts were disclosed in a February Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice.
Neither Langer nor Prendes found it unusual that companies are working to reshore manufacturing operations while also trimming staff.
“Companies may reduce capacity for an older asset approaching loss of exclusivity while investing in a separate facility for a new product or modality with different manufacturing requirements,” Prendes explained. She also noted that there is a timing issue, as layoffs at existing sites can happen years before new facilities begin staffing up.
“Domestic investment and workforce reductions can be simultaneous,” she said.
Manufacturing facility layoffs could continue in 2027
More layoffs at biopharma companies’ manufacturing facilities could be ahead in 2027, according to Langer. He noted that BioPlan Associates’ 2026 report on biopharma manufacturing capacity and production showed that the number of bioprocessing professionals saying that manufacturing productivity/efficiency improvements are needed rose from 14.6% in 2025 to 20.9% this year. That, he said, indicates a ramped-up focus on costs and productivity.
“I would expect this trend to continue into 2027,” Langer said. “If an operation can be automated, or more can be produced with fewer staff, then facilities have clearly indicated they will move in that direction.”
Layoff numbers exclude contract development and manufacturing organizations, contract research organizations, tools and services businesses and medical device firms. To tally the cuts, BioSpace compiles data for known workforce reductions. The number of employees affected is identified or estimated through confirmation from company officials as well as information in company press releases, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notices, SEC filings and media outlets’ reports.
Not all companies disclose downsizing, and some share only the percentage of staff affected. Some biopharmas provide total numbers retrospectively rather than disclosing individual workforce reductions as they happen.
