Due largely to CSL, Merck and Novo Nordisk’s reorganizations that could total about 19,350 people, Q3 cuts rose significantly year over year and quarter over quarter, based on BioSpace tallies.
The third quarter was the worst quarter yet for biopharma layoffs in 2025, according to BioSpace tallies.* Made or projected cuts totaling just over 23,000 employees far surpassed the roughly 5,900 people affected in Q1 and about 8,600 in Q2. What’s more, Q3’s total represents a 280% year-over-year spike in the number of employees impacted.
Three restructurings that could affect around 19,350 staffers total largely drove the year-over-year increase.
- In July, Merck projected it could lay off about 6,000 people globally—roughly 8% of its workforce—as part of a multiyear process. The company is looking to cut $3 billion in costs. Merck plans to channel the savings into research and development (R&D) and use it to support launching up to 20 new products.
- In August, CSL announced it’s parting ways with 15% of its workforce, which could affect around 4,350 employees. The company is restructuring to streamline operations and boost clinical and commercial performance. CSL expects to generate about $500 million to $550 million in annualized savings over the next three years.
- In September, Novo Nordisk shared it plans to cut about 9,000 employees globally, which is 11% of its headcount. The restructuring is meant to help simplify the business to improve decision-making speed and generate around $1.25 billion in annualized savings through 2026. Novo plans to redirect savings to growth opportunities in diabetes and obesity.
Other significant Q3 cuts made or projected happened at Sarepta, Moderna and Lundbeck.
- In July, Sarepta announced it would lay off around 500 employees.
- In August, Moderna told staff it was downsizing by about 10%, which could affect around 550 people.
- In September, Lundbeck announced it would pull out of 27 markets that employ 602 employees total. The company noted, however, that it expected most of those affected would have the opportunity to get jobs with local partners.
The number of biopharma professionals let go in the third quarter could be higher. Bayer, which has been laying off staff as part of an operational change announced in January 2024, has not yet disclosed year-over-year employee numbers for Q3.
Layoffs Hit California, Massachusetts Hard
The third quarter’s workforce reductions affected 11 U.S. states, based on locations disclosed by companies or reported by media outlets. California had the most cities affected, at nine, followed by Massachusetts, at eight. The two states also had the highest number of companies making or projecting layoffs: 14 in California and 16 in Massachusetts.
As to layoffs in the identified cities and states, they include cuts by Sarepta, Bristol Myers Squibb and Novo.
- In July, Sarepta disclosed in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice that it was letting go of 392 employees across Andover, Cambridge and Bedford, Massachusetts that month. Those cuts were part of its larger reduction of about 500 staffers.
- In September, BMS revealed in a WARN notice that it will lay off 282 employees in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, starting in December and wrapping up in March.
- Also in September, Novo disclosed in a WARN notice that it will let go of 263 staffers in Plainsboro, New Jersey, effective in December.
Through the first nine months of the year, biopharmas have made or projected layoffs in 13 states, mainly on the East Coast.
What May Be Ahead for Q4: More, But Slowing, Cuts
Regarding what could happen in Q4, if the pattern from 2024 holds, companies will make or project cuts affecting thousands of biopharma professionals, but those workforce reductions won’t add up to the year’s highest quarterly total. Last year, the greatest number of people impacted was in Q2, at about 9,900. Q4 came in second, at roughly 6,800.
This month, through Oct. 14, six companies have made or projected cuts totaling around 1,000 employees. During the same time last year, nine businesses’ layoffs impacted roughly 600 people combined. The higher amount of staff affected in 2025 is due in large part to Ferring Pharmaceuticals announcing Oct. 7 that it will part ways with as many as 500 employees across its global operations.
* 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 primarily through information in company press releases, WARN notices, SEC filings and other media outlets’ reports or via confirmation from company officials.
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.
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