Biopharma layoff tracker 2023: CSL Vifor, Infinity, Sana and more cut staff
Biopharma layoff tracker 2023: CSL Vifor, Infinity, Sana and more cut staff
Published: Sep 06, 2023
By BioSpace Editorial Staff
BioSpace
2022 saw myriad ups and downs in terms of the economy, and as it ebbed and flowed, so too did the job market. This trend has continued throughout 2023.
The year kicked off with mass layoffs in the tech industry, leaving many wondering if the same was in store for the biopharma industry. Fortunately, though layoff announcements have been steady, the biotech sector has not seen nearly the same peaks.
BioSpace will continue to be your source of news for job cuts and restructuring initiatives through 2023. Follow along as we keep you up to date on which companies are tightening their belts and cutting staff.
September
Sept 6:
CSL Vifor will be 85 employees lighter at its California location as of Oct. 25. CSL Vifor—which was established following the completion of CSL’s $11.7B acquisition of Vifor Pharma in August 2022—revealed the cuts in a California WARN notice. The addition brought Vifor’s iron deficiency and kidney disease portfolios under CSL’s extensive umbrella.
The layoffs are the result of a strategic review that found changes to the U.S. commercial business were required “in light of [CSL Vifor’s] current portfolio of marketed products and near to mid-term prospects to deliver cost, revenue and growth synergies,” a company spokesperson told Fierce Pharma in an email.
Sept 5:
The hits just keep coming for Infinity Pharmaceuticals, which in July laid off approximately 78% of its workforce—or 21 employees—after the company’s planned merger with MEI Pharma broke down. On Friday, Infinity’s depleted board—the company reduced its board members from eight to five in July—terminated CEO Adelene Perkins and Chief Medical Officer Robert Ilaria Jr. as part of the ongoing restructuring plan, Seeking Alpha reported. Another three employees were also let go. As of Sept. 5, Infinity’s website lists Seth Tasker as CEO and the lone member of the leadership team.
August
Aug 31:
The Labor Day long weekend began on a sour note for more than half of the employees at Maryland–based NexImmune. The biotech, which is developing immunotherapies for cancer, autoimmune and infectious diseases, announced it will lay off approximately 53% of its staff, turning a workforce of 47 full-time employees into one of just 22 as of September 5. The move was designed to reduce costs and extend the company’s cash, according to the announcement. The departures include chief financial officer John Trainer, whose final day was listed as September 2.
“The workforce reduction protects our core capabilities to advance novel therapeutic candidates and our multiplex validation of functional antigen-specific T cell responses while giving us additional flexibility to manage our business,” CEO Kristi Jones said in the announcement.
Aug 31:
On the cusp of receiving its first clinical data—for SC291, a CD19-targeted allogeneic CAR T cell therapy—Sana Biotechnology is laying off an undisclosed number of its staff.
The revelation is based on about half a dozen LinkedIn posts recently made by Sana employees, according to Endpoints News, which reported the layoffs on Thursday.
“Due to company restructuring and downsizing, my role, and the role of many of my incredible colleagues, have been eliminated,” Cole Delyea, a senior research associate, posted on the business networking platform. In an email to Endpoints, a Sana spokesperson confirmed that it had found “operating efficiencies within a single area of research.”
The FDA cleared Sana’s IND application for SC291 in January.
Aug 31:
After winning approval for Zurzuvae (zuranolone) in postpartum depression (PPD) but failing to secure the larger prize of a major depression nod, Sage Therapeutics CEO Barry Greene said the company was evaluating a workforce reorganization. Thursday, that came to fruition as the Cambridge, Mass.–based biotech announced it would lay off approximately 40% of its staff. The move is intended to “right-size” the organization and enable commercial hires necessary for a fourth-quarter launch of Zurzuvae in PPD, according to the press release. Along with the workforce cuts, Sage announced that CSO Al Robichaud and Jim Doherty, chief development officer, will be departing the company.
Aug 29:
Apellis Pharmaceuticals will let go 225 employees, or 25% of its staff, the company announced on Monday. Coming off stock drops following safety concerns over its recently approved eye injection Syfovre–which turned out to be related to the needle used to deliver the medicine, not the drug itself–Apellis stated that it’s looking to save money in the near-term to achieve “long-term success.” The company is also facing competition from Astellas, whose eye therapy Izervay was approved earlier this month.
Aug 24:
Pfizer is laying off 69 employees at a plant in Lake Forest, IL, according to a July WARN notice from the state, though some employees may be able to transition to other roles in the company, a Pfizer spokesperson told Becker’s Hospital Review. “We have made the very difficult decision to discontinue some research projects to focus on programs where our innovation and investments may be best positioned to deliver high-impact breakthrough medicines and vaccines.”
Aug 24:
Agenus is cutting 25% of its workforce, according to a company press release issued on Wednesday. The immuno-oncology firm is refocusing its resources on its flagship program botensilimab/balstilimab (BOT/BAL), a CTLA-4/PD-1 combo treatment being developed for solid tumors, including colorectal cancer and melanoma, while halting all other preclinical and clinical programs for the time being. “Now is the pivotal moment to concentrate our efforts on the BOT/BAL program,” Chairman and CEO Garo Armen said in the statement. “The observed clinical benefit in solid tumors underscores the program’s game-changing potential, and our rapid progress towards a first filing in 2024 highlights the necessity for prioritization in every aspect of our operations.”
Aug 23:
Novartis will cut 103 jobs this fall, according to a state WARN notice. The layoffs will again affect the company’s East Hanover, NJ, headquarters and focus on clinical operations, Fierce Pharma reported. The move comes with a campus redesign and is part of a new approach to “enable faster trial recruitment and enhanced trial delivery,” a Novartis spokesperson told the publication. This is the company’s first significant round of layoffs since it announced late last year that its restructuring initiative would eliminate 285 jobs in the early part of 2023.
Aug 22
Lava Therapeutics will lay off 36% of its employees, the company announced with its second-quarter financial update today. The cuts come along with efforts to reprioritize Lava’s portfolio following the company’s June decision to discontinue development of LAVA-051, a gammabody intended to target CD1d-expressing tumors, including multiple myeloma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia. At the end of last year, Lava had 69 full-time employees, Endpoints News reported.
Aug 22:
Aravive is laying off 70% of its staff, which numbered 23 people at the end of last year, according to an SEC filing. The terminations, which include Chief Operating Officer Scott Dove, come as the company shutters clinical development of the decoy protein batiraxcept, which recently failed to improve progression-free survival in a Phase III trial of platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. In addition to its ovarian cancer program, the company was testing batiraxcept in Phase Ib/II trials of clear cell renal cell carcinoma and pancreatic cancer, but following the Phase III flop, the company has decided it needs to conserve cash, the filing stated.
Aug 18:
BlueRock Therapeutics is laying off about 50 people, or about 12% of its employees, Endpoints News reported. The cuts will affect sites in New York, Toronto and Cambridge, MA. BlueRock is the cell therapy arm of Bayer, which bought the biotech in 2019. In June of this year, BlueRock announced positive Phase I data for its stem cell therapy bemdaneprocel, being developed for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
Aug 15:
Starting in October, Thermo Fisher Scientific is letting go 205 employees from two sites in Alachua, Florida, according to a recent WARN notice. According to Fierce Pharma, the 95,000-square-foot Alachua facility oversees analytics and processes for viral vector systems and conducts quality control testing and manufacturing for cell and gene therapies in clinical development but is no longer listed on Thermo’s website. This marks the company’s sixth round of layoffs this year, having cut nearly 600 employees in the San Diego area and an additional 113 in New Jersey.
Aug 15:
Alaunos Therapeutics will lay off 60% of employees as it runs out of cash to continue operations, the company announced with its second-quarter financial results. The move comes hand in hand with a strategic shift that involves moving away from its TCR-T Library Phase 1/2 trial and focusing on its hunTR TCR discovery platform while exploring partnering opportunities. It’s unclear how many people will be affected by the layoffs, but according to an SEC filing the company had 34 full-time employees as of February.
Aug 14:
BioXcel Therapeutics is cutting its workforce by more than half, dropping from about 190 employees to 80, the company announced with its second-quarter earnings on Monday. The move came as the New Haven, Conn.–based, AI-focused biopharma company aims to reduce operating expenses by more than 50%, according to the press release. Additional strategic shifts include halting certain programs altogether and focusing on the development of BXCL501 for at-home treatment of agitation in schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and mild to moderate dementia due to probable Alzheimer’s disease.
Aug 14:
Bristol Myers Squibb will lay off 108 employees later this year, according to a New Jersey WARN report. The news comes shortly after the company announced its second-quarter earnings, which showed notably reduced sales of its chemotherapy Revlimid and lower overall revenue projections for 2023. It’s the second round of layoffs to hit BMS this year, with 48 staff members at its Princeton, New Jersey, facility losing their jobs in May.
Aug 10:
San Carlos, Calif.–based biotech Atreca is reorganizing its pipeline, suspending development of its lead candidate ATRC-101, a solid tumor monoclonal antibody, and cutting its workforce by 40%. The cuts will cost the company approximately $1.6 million, mostly in severance payments, according to an 8K filing dated Aug. 10. The remaining Atreca staff will focus their attention on the company’s preclinical antibody-drug conjugate candidates, with the company particularly highlighting APN-497444, being developed for gastrointestinal cancers.
Aug 9:
Immediately following the FDA’s rejection of avasopasem manganese (avasopasem)—intended to treat severe oral mucositis (SOM), or mouth sores, resulting from radiotherapy in patients with head and neck cancer—Galera Therapeutics announced it would lay off approximately 70% of its workforce. The move is one action the Malvern, Penn–based company is taking to extend its cash runway as it winds down commercial readiness efforts, according to a press release announcing the Complete Response Letter. The reductions will be felt across several departments.
“We are grateful for the many contributions our talented team has made over the years and their commitment to avasopasem,” Galera President and CEO Mel Sorensen said in a prepared statement.
Aug 9:
INOVIO Pharmaceuticals is abandoning development of its cervical lesion program, VGX-3100, along with 58 of its employees. The layoffs, which equate to 30% of INOVIO’s overall workforce, are the third staff reductions in the span of just over a year for the Pennsylvania-based company. In July 2022, INOVIO parted with 18% of its staff after encountering challenges in efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Then in January, looking for further cost savings, the company laid off an additional 11% of its team.
Aug 8:
Houston–based biotech Salarius Pharmaceuticals is reducing its small team by more than half as it explores strategic alternatives and takes measures to extend its resources. These measures may include “acquisition, merger, reverse merger, divestiture of assets, licensing or other strategic transactions,” according to the press release. Salarius President and CEO David Arthur said the decision to limit further drug development was “exceptionally difficult” in light of recent clinical wins that include FDA clearance of a Phase I trial for targeted protein degrader SP-3164 in non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The company’s remaining employees will focus on “limited drug development activities.”
Aug 8:
In a shift away from contract manufacturing, Emergent BioSolutions will part ways with approximately 400 employees. The changes, which come as Emergent focuses its resources on its core businesses—medical countermeasures and Narcan—will also see the reduction of operations at the company’s facilities in Baltimore, MD, and Canton, MA. Emergent’s contract manufacturing business took a hit two years ago when cross-contamination ruined millions of doses of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine. The 400 individuals laid off Tuesday join 132 of their colleagues who lost their jobs in another “organizational restructuring” in January.
Aug 8:
San Francisco–based clinical trials company Curebase has laid off an undisclosed number of employees as it sunsets its full-service clinical operations business, CEO Tom Lemberg announced in a LinkedIn post. Lemberg put the decision down to the current state of the industry, saying, “We regret the turbulence our industry is experiencing, including staffing reductions at Curebase and many of our peer startups trying to make an impact in this space.”
Aug 3:
Celsius Therapeutics announced the launch of its first clinical trial for its lead asset CEL383, an anti-TREM1 antibody intended to treat inflammatory bowel disease—but it appears the Mass.-based company hobbled to the starting gate, recently laying off around two-thirds of its employees, CEO Tariq Kassum told STAT News. Celsius has also halted nearly all of its early-stage research work in order to launch the Phase I trial, Kassum told STAT.
“I do think that you’re seeing a lot of other companies doing what we are, which is, as painful as it is, to focus on the nearest-term value drivers, the things that can get to patients the quickest, and make the painful decisions that allow you to live to fight another day,” he said.
Aug 2:
In an effort to focus on its late-stage core programs, Karyopharm Therapeutics will reduce its workforce by around 20%, the Mass.-based company announced in its second-quarter financial report. The move will affect both full-time employees and contractors, Karyopharm stated. An SEC filing puts the company’s total workforce at 385 as of Feb. 10, meaning the cuts could affect around 80 people. With the move, Karyopharm expects to have cash runway into late 2025.
Aug 2:
Intergalactic Therapeutics, launched in 2020 by Apple Tree Partners and former Pfizer and Biogen exec Michael Ehlers, is parting ways with all of its employees and will “explore strategic options”, according to Heather Shea, a company spokesperson who confirmed the news to the Boston Business Journal.
In a LinkedIn post, Joseph Graskemper, the company’s head of external manufacturing and supply chain, indicated that economic reasons were at play in the decision. “The current economic environment has led to challenging times for companies to raise capital,” Graskemper wrote. “Unfortunately, Intergalactic Therapeutics was not immune to these challenges and all employees have been laid off, myself included.”
Intergalactic was developing non-viral gene therapies.
Aug 2:
Charles River Laboratories will shutter its discovery site in South San Francisco, a company representative confirmed in an email to BioSpace on August 1. The facility, located at 225 Gateway Blvd., employed 55 people, ranging from entry- to senior-level scientific and technical staff. The decision was made based on a determination that the pharmacokinetic and pharmacology services provided by the site “are not currently a strategic fit to support future growth,” the representative said, adding that the company’s antibody discovery and CRADL locations in South San Francisco are not affected.
Aug 2:
Another plant is shutting its doors, this one belonging to SterRx, a New York–based company that makes therapeutic products, including calcium-channel blocking agents, sedatives and vasopressors. The move, announced in a WARN notice dated July 26, will affect 161 employees. The decision, which involves two sites, was made due to economic reasons, according to the WARN notice. The first layoffs are expected to happen on Oct. 24, the same date listed for the closing of the facility.
July
July 28:
In a pipeline reprioritization, Ribon Therapeutics has made “cuts across the organization,” Chief Business Officer Gary Sutton told Endpoints News, which broke the news of the layoffs. The Cambridge, MA–based biotech has also ended its preclinical and platform work to prioritize development of two clinical programs: RBN-2397, an oral PARP7 inhibitor being tested in a Phase I trial of patients with solid tumors, and RBN-3143, an inhibitor of PARP14 currently in Phase I for moderate to severe atopic dermatitis. Sutton did not disclose the number of employees affected, Endpoints reported.
July 28:
On the heels of what it called “encouraging” data from a Phase I study evaluating HMI-103—an investigational gene editing candidate—in phenylketonuria (PKU), Homology Medicines is laying off nearly its entire workforce as it evaluates strategic options. Homology stated that despite the positive data for HM1-103, it would be shuttering its programs and reducing its workforce by 87%. In a press release, the company said the decision is due to “the current financing environment and Homology’s anticipated clinical development timelines.”
July 27:
Mersana Therapeutics will lay off around half of its workforce after the Phase III failure of its lead antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), upifitamab rilsodotin (UpRi), in ovarian cancer. Mersana announced Thursday that UpRi failed to meet the primary endpoint of investigator-assessed objective response rate in the UPLIFT trial, which was studying the therapeutic in patients with NaPi2b-positive ovarian cancer. This spells the end of the UpRi program, which also includes the UP-NEXT and UPGRADE-A clinical trials, which were both placed on partial clinical holds by the FDA in June, as Mersana said it would wind down development activities related to the ADC.
July 25:
After the breakdown of its planned merger with MEI Pharma, Infinity Pharmaceuticals is laying off approximately 78% of its current workforce in what the company is calling a value preservation and maximization plan. In addition to parting with 21 employees, Infinity will reduce its board from eight members to five and the remaining members will finish out their term uncompensated. On Monday, Infinity announced it had terminated the planned merger after MEI failed to obtain stockholder approval for the deal.
July 25:
In a sweeping move, Biogen will cut 11% of its workforce—amounting to approximately 1,000 jobs—as it gears up for the launch of Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi, which gained full approval earlier this month. The layoffs are part of a larger cost-cutting and reorganization effort that began in 2022 on the heels of a disappointing rollout for the company’s other Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm. The larger plan, dubbed “Fit for Growth” is expected to save approximately $1 billion in gross operating expenses by 2025, Biogen stated in its Q2 earnings report.
July 24:
The hits keep coming for Heron Therapeutics. Just over a year ago, Heron cut 34% of its workforce in what it called a “corporate restructuring and cost reduction plan.” Monday, the San Diego–based biotech was back with another corporate restructuring that will cost 25% of its employees their jobs. The overall cost reduction plan—which also includes streamlining operational expenditures, including reductions in R&D—is expected to save $75 million in cash through 2025.
July 21:
Illumina is laying off 151 workers in California, according to WARN notices filed with the state. The cuts include 79 workers in San Diego, 71 in Foster City and one in Hayward. The layoffs are part of an initiative to save $100 million by the end of the year.
Eliem Therapeutics announced it is dropping its one remaining program and exploring strategic alternatives, including a potential sale of its business. This comes five months after the biotech laid off 55% of its staff and dropped its Phase II depression candidate.
Idorsia announced plans to lay off up to 500 workers in an attempt to cut spending in half at its headquarters in Allschwil, Switzerland by early 2024. The company has decided to stop its R&D efforts while it waits for Quviviq, its insomnia treatment, to bring in more cash.
Codexis announced it will no longer develop its own therapeutics and will focus on selling its existing technology and services. This shift will result in cutting 25% of its workforce and closing its facility in San Carlos, CA.
Passage Bio announced plans to cut 26% of its staff, including its chief financial officer and chief technical officer, according to an SEC filing. The cuts will be focused primarily on its chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC) division.
July 19:
Amgen is laying off four members of staff from its San Carlos, CA facility effective Sept. 1, according to a WARN notice. This is the company’s third round of layoffs since Jan. 1. The first, announced in January, included 300 workers, and the second, announced in March, included 450.
FibroGen is cutting 104 workers in the U.S., or approximately 32% of its workforce, according to an SEC filing published Wednesday. This followed news in June that the company’s idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis candidate, pamrevlumab, failed to meet its primary endpoint in a Phase III trial.
Amarin Corporation PLC announced it plans to lay off all workers in U.S. sales positions and eliminate 30% of non-sales roles as part of a restructuring initiative following the appointment of a new CEO. The company stated it will keep a small team on staff to continue developing its lead candidate, Vascepa.
Pieris Pharmaceuticals announced Tuesday that it is undergoing a restructuring initiative and laying off 70% of its workforce after AstraZeneca pulled out of its partnership and licensing deal for its asthma treatment, elarekibep.
July 12:
Capsida Biotherapeutics is laying off staff, according to multiple outlets, but the company has not confirmed how many workers would be affected. Fierce Biotech reported the layoffs could include up to 25% of the team, citing “a source familiar with the decision.”
Sagent Pharmaceuticals is laying off 81 workers at its Raleigh, NC campus, according to a WARN notice filed with the state of North Carolina. The layoffs will take place on Aug. 11. Sagent acquired the facility in 2019, and at the time, it housed about 120 workers.
AVROBIO announced it is stopping the development of three gene therapies, cutting its workforce by about half and is on the lookout for a buyer for the rest of its assets, according to an SEC filing.
Theratechnologies announced it is cutting an unspecified number of workers in its R&D division in an effort to save cash, according to its Q2 financial report. Sales for both Trogarzo, a treatment for HIV infection and Egrifta, a treatment for fat gain due to HIV infection, were down 9% in Q2, and the company expects to save an extra $5.5 million annually by cutting down its R&D spending.
BAKX Therapeutics announced that as of July 1, it has shut the doors to its offices and labs, dissolved the company and laid off almost all of its staff. Several key members of the company, based in Watertown, MA, will stay put until Aug. 1.
July 7:
TrueBinding, a California biotech developing therapies for Alzheimer’s, has recently undergone two rounds of layoffs, according to Endpoints News, which cited LinkedIn posts as its source. The company did not respond to the outlet’s request for comment, but according to PitchBook, TrueBinding now has 27% fewer staff than it did in July 2022.
Galvanize Therapeutics conducted a round of layoffs last week, according to multiple outlets, just 10 months after it received $100 million in funding. The company would not confirm how many workers were cut in the layoffs.
July 6:
Sumitomo Pharma America plans to lay off 62 employees from its New York City office previously owned by its subsidiary Sumitovant Biopharma, according to a WARN notice published July 3. The company stated the layoffs are a result of its effort, previously announced in April, to combine its seven subsidiaries into one company dubbed Sumitomo Pharma America.
July 5:
Zymergen plans to lay off three workers in Alameda County, CA, effective Aug. 1, according to a California WARN report. The company was acquired by Ginkgo Bioworks in July 2022, and this most recent filing marks the fourth round of layoffs it has implemented since.
JUNE
June 30:
Bellerophon Therapeutics is laying off “substantially all” of its staff, according to an SEC filing. The cuts include the company’s C-suite. This follows a June 5 announcement that its only clinical program had come to a halt after failing to meet its primary endpoint in fibrotic interstitial lung disease.
Eiger BioPharmaceuticals is cutting 25% of its workforce and shifting its focus to to a GLP-1 antagonist being developed to treat metabolic diseases. As part of the restructuring, the company will also stop R&D spending for a liver disease candidate.
June 27:
Illumina has begun layoffs in San Diego in an effort to cut annual expenses by $100 million by the end of 2023, according to an SEC filing. No WARN report has been filed as of this writing, and the company declined to confirm how many workers were being laid off, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.
June 26:
Intercept Pharmaceuticals announced it is abandoning its NASH program and laying off about one-third of its workforce. This came one day after the FDA denied the application for its obeticholic acid tablets to treat patients with pre-cirrhotic liver fibrosis due to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Intercept expects the cuts to save it about $140 million a year.
June 22:
Federation Bio confirmed to Fierce Biotech that it has laid off an undisclosed number of workers just six months after launching its first Phase I trial. The company did not disclose the reason for the layoffs.
June 21:
Nutcracker Therapeutics has laid off 12 employees, a company spokesperson confirmed to Fierce Biotech. The spokesperson added that the cuts were made in an attempt to focus on its three preclinical programs, emphasizing that the company has no plans to cut any of the programs at this time.
June 20:
Thermo Fisher Scientific plans to cut 88 workers in the San Diego area, according to a WARN notice filed in California. This news came two months after it announced plans to close three sites in San Diego. This brings Thermo Fisher’s total number of job cuts in the area to nearly 600 since the start of 2023.
Molecular Templates is laying off 44% of its workforce as part of a restructuring initiative to save cash flow and potentially find a buyer, according to a June 16 press release. This round of cuts follow a March announcement that the company was cutting approximately half of its staff.
Twist Bioscience is laying off 212 employees in California, according to WARN notices filed with the state. The majority of the cuts will take place in San Francisco. These layoffs are part of a restructuring initiative the company announced in May that includes cutting about 25% of its total workforce.
June 14:
Encoded Therapeutics is cutting approximately 10% of its headcount in an effort to extend cash flow into 2026, chief business officer David McNinch told Fierce Biotech. He declined to confirm how many staffers were affected, but he said the cuts were part of an effort to shift its focus to getting its lead asset, a treatment for Dravet syndrome, through the clinic.
June 12:
Rejuvenate Bio Bio has cut a “sizable portion” of its staff and made cuts to its pipeline, Endpoints News reported. A Rejuvenate spokesperson confirmed to the news organization that it was in fact making cuts, but it did not specify how many staffers would be affected by the layoffs.
June 5:
GreenLight Biosciences is laying off 96 members of staff, effective July 29, according to a WARN notice received by the state on May 31. News of the cuts comes shortly after the company announced it had agreed to be acquired by a group of buyers led by Fall Line Capital, LLC.
June 2:
Oncorus is laying off 55 employees, or “substantially all” of its workforce, according to a post-market release. The cuts include CEO Ted Ashburn, COO Stephen Harbin and CMO John Goldberg. Interim CFO Alexander Nolte will remain in order to attempt to find a buyer for the biotech before it runs out of cash.
Roche plans to sell a drug manufacturing plant in Vacaville, CA, or shut the facility down by 2029, according to an internal email sent Wednesday obtained by Reuters. The plant currently employs 800 staff members, and though Roche would not confirm any details about the timeline or number of employees affected to Reuters, it did confirm plans to sell the site.
Catalent plans to lay off 150 employees from its Bloomington, IN plant by Friday, Indiana Public Media reported, according to an internal email sent to employees. A company spokesperson told the news outlet that the cuts will mainly affect leadership and support positions, and come as part of a restructuring due to difficulty sustaining the growth the company saw during the COVID-19 pandemic.
MAY
May 31:
Rain Oncology is laying off 65% of its staff, including its chief medical officer. This news came one week after the company’s lead candidate, milademetan, fell short in a Phase III liposarcoma trial. Rain is also pausing a Phase II trial and dropping another Phase I/II trial completely, both studying milademetan.
May 24:
Takeda plans to lay off 27 employees in San Diego two weeks after giving notice of plans to lay off more than 180 employees in Massachusetts. A Takeda spokesperson told BioSpace that the cuts in California are directly related to the company’s decision to discontinue discovery and pre-clinical efforts in AAV gene therapy and in rare hematology.
PTC Therapeutics, Inc. has implemented a pipeline prioritization initiative, that includes dropping several preclinical and early-phase R&D projects in gene therapy and an 8% reduction in its workforce.
May 23:
Affimed cut about 25% of its total headcount in April, according to the company’s Q1 earnings report. These cuts came as part of a restructuring effort in which the company hopes to prioritize the three clinical programs in its pipeline.
May 19:
Urovant Sciences is laying off 22 employees, effective June 29, according to a California WARN notice filed in April and published in May. This news comes just a few weeks after the company revealed that it is being folded into its parent company, Sumitomo, along with six other sister companies.
May 16:
GeneDx, a clinical genomics and genetic testing company, is laying off 19 employees beginning May 28, according to a Connecticut WARN notice. This comes after the company cut 700 jobs last year. The most recent cuts include only remote employees, CT Insider reported.
May 11:
Adaptive Phage Therapeutics, Inc. cut 22 jobs, or 23% of its total headcount, to shift its focus to its clinical trials and extend its cash runway, the Washington Business Journal reported. The layoffs went into effect on May 9.
May 10:
Roche has cut 165 jobs in Branchburg, New Jersey—the home of its largest diagnostic operations center in the U.S. The layoffs will go into effect on July 25, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act (WARN) notice filed in April.
May 9:
Novavax is cutting its global workforce by about 25%, according to its first-quarter earnings report. The layoffs include about 500 of the nearly 2,000 employees that Novavax cited in its 2022 annual report.
Gossamer Bio announced plans to lay off 25% of its workforce as part of an effort to shift its focus to its pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) candidate, which is set to enter Phase III in the third quarter of this year. The biotech stated it plans to cut all clinical and preclinical programs other than the PAH candidate.
ADC Therapeutics plans to cut about 17% of its staff—about 54 employees in total—along with two preclinical programs. This news follows disappointing sales for Zynlonta, an ADC approved to treat diffuse large B cell lymphoma.
May 8:
Takeda plans to lay off about 186 employees in Massachusetts, according to a WARN report. The cuts will affect employees in four locations across three cities in Massachusetts: Cambridge, Lexington and North Reading.
Bristol Myers Squibb plans to lay off 48 staff members from its Princeton, New Jersey, facility, according to a WARN notice filed in April. Though no other information was provided in the WARN report about which divisions will be affected, the facility houses employees from the commercial, R&D and enabling function support teams, according to the company’s website.
EQRx announced plans to cut 170 jobs and several drug candidates as part of a restructuring effort. The startup was formed to develop an affordable alternative to name-brand prescription drugs, but tight FDA regulations forced the company to pivot.
Mammoth Biosciences cut 35 jobs in March, Mammoth CEO Trevor Martin confirmed to Endpoints News. The biotech is looking to ditch its efforts in CRISPR diagnostics and shift its focus to therapeutic research.
May 4:
Selecta Biosciences announced plans to cut about 25% of its workforce as part of an effort to implement a “capital prioritization initiative,” according to its Q1 financial report. The cuts are expected to extend the company’s cash flow to the second half of 2025.
May 3:
Zymergen plans to lay off 27 members of staff in Alameda County, CA, effective June 20, according to a California WARN report. The company was acquired by Ginkgo Bioworks in July 2022, and this most recent filing marks the third round of layoffs it has implemented since.
APRIL
April 27:
Transplant Genomics has cut nine remote workers from its staff, according to a Massachusetts WARN report. The report was filed on April 27, and the layoffs went into effect the very next day.
Sumitomo plans to lay off a combined 122 members of staff from both Sumitomo Pharma America Holdings and Sumitomo Pharma Oncology in Massachusetts. It will also cut 101 jobs from subsidiary Sunovion Pharmaceuticals. This news comes one month after the pharma announced plans to consolidate its many subsidiaries into one company, Sumitomo Pharma America.
Cepheid, a company known for making rapid coronavirus tests, plans to cut 625 members of staff in the California Bay Area, according to a WARN report. This is the company’s second round of layoffs in the last six months. In November, the company announced plans to cut 925 jobs, also in the Bay Area.
Care Access, a contract research startup, has cut about half of its headcount, according to a LinkedIn post by CEO and co-founder Ahmad Namvargolian. This news comes just two months after Pfizer cut the startup from its study of a Lyme disease vaccine.
April 26:
Thermo Fisher Scientific plans to lay off 218 workers related to the closing of three facilities in San Diego, according to a WARN report. This is the third round of layoffs the company has implemented in San Diego so far this year, and this most recent round brings the total number of cuts in the area to just over 500. In March, Thermo Fisher also announced plans to close a New Jersey manufacturing site and lay off 113 employees.
Sangamo Therapeutics announced plans to layoff about 120 staff members (approximately 27% of total workforce) as part of a restructuring effort. This news comes only one month after both Novartis and Biogen ended their partnerships with the biotech.
Evelo Biosciences announced it is cutting its workforce and dropping an atopic dermatitis program in an effort to extend its cash flow. This is the company’s second round of layoffs in three months. The company did not specify how many jobs would be cut.
April 20:
Foundation Medicine, Inc., a Roche subsidiary, plans to cut about 135 members of staff, according to an April 4 blog post written by CEO Brian Alexander on the company’s website. Alexander said the layoffs are part of a decision to adopt a “leaner, more streamlined organizational structure.”
Enzyvant Therapeutics plans to lay off 20 employees in North Carolina, including some executive positions, the Triangle Business Journal reported. The WARN notice, filed April 20, stated the cuts are a “result of the integration of Enzyvant and a number of its affiliates into one new company.”
April 17:
Emerald Cloud Lab plans to lay off 30 employees from its headquarters in South San Francisco, effective April 30, according to a WARN report. These cuts could be part of the company’s plans to relocate to a new facility in Austin, TX, which is expected to open in July.
Nektar Therapeutics plans to implement a restructuring initiative that includes cutting its workforce in San Francisco by about 60%. The company said it will shift its focus to its immunology portfolio, and the cuts will help extend its cash flow to mid-2026.
April 14:
Talaris Therapeutics plans to lay off about 80 employees, including much of its C-suite. In total, the cuts include about 95% of the company’s headcount. This follows Talaris’ February decision to cut about one-third of its staff and axe two clinical trials.
April 12:
Aeglea Biotherapeutics announced plans to lay off all but about 10 members of its staff as part of a restructuring initiative. This announcement followed mixed interim data from an ongoing Phase I/II study of its classical homocystinuria candidate pegtarviliase.
Oncocyte Corporation announced plans to cut its workforce by about 20% in an effort to extend its cash flow into 2024. The company did not give a reason for the layoffs in the press release, stating only that the cuts were part of an effort to reduce costs and optimize efficiency.
GentiBio, Inc has laid off an undisclosed number of employees, CEO Adel Nada told the Boston Business Journal. The CEO called the cuts “relatively small,” and cited “a challenging biotech macroenvironment” as the reason for the cuts.
April 10:
Biogen is laying off an unspecified number of employees, according to a report published Monday by the Boston Business Journal. A Biogen spokesperson confirmed the layoffs in an email to BioSpace but declined to reveal the exact number of affected employees.
April 7:
Pear Therapeutics has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is seeking to sell off its assets, according to an SEC filing. 170 employees (about 92% of total staff) will be laid off as a result, leaving 15 employees who will continue working until the company’s assets are sold.
April 6:
Thermo Fisher Scientific plans to shutter a New Jersey manufacturing facility and cut 113 members of staff as a result, according to a WARN report filed in March. This is the third round of layoffs the company has announced this year. Since February, it has cut over 350 staff members, all from manufacturing facilities in San Diego.
LumiraDx, a diagnostics testing solutions company, announced plans to initiate a restructuring program that includes cutting its headcount by about 40%. The company expects to save about $36 million a year as a result.
April 3:
NGM Biopharmaceuticals is implementing a restructuring initiative that includes cutting 75 employees, which make up about 33% of the company’s total workforce, according to an SEC filing. CEO David Woodhouse stated the cuts are related to the Phase II CATALINA trial failure in October 2022.
MARCH
March 31:
Molecular Templates is cutting about half of its staff, leaving it with just over 100 employees, according to an SEC filing. The layoffs are the result of an effort to narrow its pipeline to only three programs and a preclinical partnership with BMS.
March 28:
Alector plans to cut about 30 members of staff to focus its resources on research. In an SEC filing, the company stated this will allow it to prioritize its immuno-neurology programs.
Applied Molecular Transport, Inc. (AMT) is slashing its workforce by approximately 57%, according to a March 28 announcement. Tahir Mahmood, Ph.D. will step down as CEO and be replaced by President and COO Shawn Cross.
Satsuma Pharmaceuticals announced plans to lay off 36% of its staff, starting March 31. effective this Friday. This comes after the company announced results from a Phase III trial studying its migraine treatment, STS101, and submitted an NDA to the FDA earlier this month.
9 Meters Biopharma announced it is cutting about half of its workforce in an effort to extend its cash runway. The announcement came as part of its fourth-quarter financial report.
March 23
Merck KGaA‘s EMD Serono plans to cut six members of staff research center in Billerica, MA, beginning May 22, according to a Massachusetts WARN report. In January, the company announced plans to cut 133 employees from the same location as part of a plan to prioritize R&D and rely more heavily on its partnerships for drug development.
Genentech, Inc. plans to close a production facility in South San Francisco, CA. As a result, 271 employees will be laid off, according to the WARN report.
March 20
Ferring Pharmaceuticals is closing its research facility in San Diego, CA and laying off 89 employees as a result. According to a WARN notice filed with the state of California, the layoffs will be effective May 26.
Evofem Biosciences is cutting eight staff members just four months after cutting 39 jobs. The company also plans to cut its CEO’s salary by 40% in an effort to save cash.
March 16
Amgen is cutting 450 members of its workforce, according to a Reuters report. This is Amgen’s second round of layoffs this year; the first, in January, included 300 members of staff.
March 15:
Vaxart, Inc. plans to reorganize its pipeline to prioritize its oral norovirus vaccine program and push back clinical trials for its COVID-19 vaccine. The reorganization includes cutting about 27% of staff in an effort to extend cash flow into 2024.
March 9:
Olema Oncology announced it is shifting its focus to advancing OP-1250, a treatment for ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer, into Phase III. The restructuring will include cutting about 25% of its workforce.
March 8:
Neoleukin Therapeutics announced it is reviewing strategic alternatives that could include a sale, merger, divestiture of assets, licensing or other strategic transaction. As a result, the company is cutting 70% of its workforce in the first half of 2023.
March 7:
Thermo Fisher Scientific is laying off 154 people in San Diego, according to a WARN report. This news comes just one month after it announced plans to lay off 230 employees at three manufacturing sites in San Diego. The company cited reduced demand for COVID-19 testing kits as the reason for both rounds of cuts.
March 6:
atai Life Sciences announced it has cut staff by about 30% as part of a in order to extend its cash runway into the first half of 2026. The company stated the decision came after a strategic review of its pipeline in an effort to enhance efficiency and narrow its focus.
Coherus BioSciences announced in its fourth-quarter report that it has cut about 60 full-time and part-time employees from its payroll as part of a restructuring initiative. The company’s operating expenses for this year are nearly $100 million lower than those projected in April 2022.
March 2:
MorphoSys AG plans to drop its pre-clinical programs and cut 17% of its workforce to extend its cash runway. The cuts will take place at the company’s Planegg headquarters, and a total of 70 employees will lose their jobs.
March 1:
Novo Nordisk is laying off 86 employees in Seattle, effective May 1, according to a WARN notice. A spokesperson told GeekWire that the company is shuttering its Seattle-based wet lab operations, but that it will continue its efforts in digital therapy, data science and AI in the area.
G1 Therapeutics released its full-year 2022 financial report that stated it has cut its headcount by about 30% to reduce operating expenses in 2023. This comes two weeks after the biotech ended a late-stage study of its lead candidate in colorectal cancer, causing shares to plunge 50%.
FEBRUARY
Feb. 28:
Theravance Biopharma is discontinuing research activities for its JAK inhibitor program in lung inflammation and reducing its headcount by about 17%. The strategic realignment folows a letter from one of Theravance’s largest shareholders, Irenic Capital, urging the company to review its governance structure and reassess its business strategies.
Feb. 24:
ObsEva, a women’s health biotech based in Switzerland, is cutting several staff members from its executive team in the U.S. and its board of directors. These cuts include the company’s CEO, CMO and several others.
Feb. 22:
Graphite Bio announced it is discontinuing the development of nulabeglogene autogedtemcel (nula-cel), its lead asset. Simultaneously, the Bay Area biotech is launching a corporate restructuring program that will shave off about 50% of its workforce.
Impel Pharmaceuticals is implementing a restructuring initiative that includes cutting staff by 16%. It plans to drop its INP105 treatment for acute agitation and aggression in autism spectrum disorder and focus on developing its Trudhesa nasal spray.
Jounce Therapeutics announced plans to merge its business in an all-stock deal with clinical-stage biotech Redx Pharma. This news came one day after the biotech announced a restructuring plan that included cutting 57% of staff.
Feb. 21:
National Resilience Inc. announced plans to sell a manufacturing site in Marlborough, MA and scale back operations at another in Allston, MA. The decision will result in about 213 job cuts in total.
Aileron Therapeutics announced it plans to drop its its lead candidate, ALRN-6924, after it did not meet the primary or secondary endpoints in a Phase 1b trial studying the candidate in breast cancer patients. As a result, the company will cut its staff from nine employees to three.
Feb. 15:
Grifols announced a comprehensive plan to save money and resources that will result in 2,000 U.S. job cuts. The company stated its goal is to save approximately $428 million USD in 2023.
Feb. 13:
Frequency Therapeutics is cutting 55% of its workforce due to its decision to drop all programs designed to treat Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL). This comes after its candidate, FX-322, did not meet the primary endpoint in SNHL patients in a Phase IIb trial.
Feb. 9:
Eliem Therapeutics is dropping a depression drug candidate that was heading into Phase II and laying off 55% of staff in an attempt to stretch its cash runway into 2027.
Feb. 8:
Aligos Therapeutics announced it has implemented a pipeline reprioritization resulting in a staff reduction of about 25%. The biotech will now prioritize its NASH and COVID-19 assets, including its NASH collaboration with Merck.
Feb. 6:
Thermo Fisher Scientific will cut a total of 230 jobs at three sites in San Diego County, CA. This comes after the pharma reported a significant drop in sales of its COVID-19 tests in 2022.
Magenta Therapeutics is cutting up to 56 positions from its workforce – about 84% of its total staff – according to a filing with the SEC. This comes days after the biotech suspended the development of its clinical programs after a patient’s death halted a Phase I/II trial.
Feb. 3:
Eisai Inc. filed a WARN notice with the state of New Jersey that stated it plans to cut 91 jobs. The job cuts will be effective on April 30.
Vyant Bio announced plans to cut its workforce in an attempt to extend its cash runway, though the announcement did not specify how many jobs would be cut. The decision is due to leadership’s belief that “its stock price does not reflect the fundamental value of the business.”
Medicago, a plant-based COVID-19 vaccine developer, announced it will shut its doors due to a slowdown in the COVID-19 pandemic. This follows the company’s November announcement that it planned to lay off 62 employees at a North Carolina manufacturing facility.
Feb. 1:
Evelo Biosciences announced it has implemented cost-saving initiatives that include an unspecified amount of job cuts. In the same announcement, the company also stated its atopic dermatitis candidate, EDP1815, did not meet its primary endpoint in a Phase II trial.
JANUARY
Jan. 31:
Instil Bio plans to cut its staff to just 15 employees in an attempt to extend its cash runway through 2026. This additional reduction follows the company’s December announcement that it planned to cut staff by 60%.
INOVIO announced plans to reorganize its pipeline to prioritize “operational efficiency” and cut staff by 11%. By cutting several programs, the company expects to save about $3.4 million.
Jan. 30:
Quince Therapeutics plans to reprioritize its pipeline and lay off 47% of its staff, according to an SEC filing. The new strategy follows the company’s decision to sell its protease inhibitor portfolios.
Amgen is implementing organizational changes that include laying off approximately 300 team members to “better manage against industry headwinds,” a company spokesperson confirmed to BioSpace. The job cuts will mainly affect Amgen’s commercial team and will involve employees based in the U.S., the spokesperson said.
Jan. 24:
Finch Therapeutics announced it plans to discontinue the Phase III trial of its main asset, a bacterial infection drug dubbed CP101. As a result, it will cut about 95% of its workforce. Finch cited a lack of funding and partnerships to develop the drug as the reason behind the decision.
Jan. 23:
Merck KGaA‘s EMD Serono plans to cut 133 members of staff at its research center in Billerica, MA. This comes a few months after the biotech announced it planned to prioritize R&D and rely more heavily on its partnerships for drug development.
Jan. 19:
ReNeuron announced plans to restructure and cut staff by 40% as in an effort to stretch its cash flow until 2024. This comes two weeks after Catherine Isted resigned from her role as CEO.
Cyteir Therapeutics announced a restructuring initiative focused on prioritizing CYT-0851, an investigational monocarboxylate transporter inhibitor being studied in ovarian cancer. The shift will result in a 70% reduction in staff.
Jan. 12:
Akili Interactive Labs announced that due to the recent shift in the economic environment, it will reduce its staff immediately by approximately 30%, cutting 46 employees in total.
Jan. 11:
Verily Life Sciences, a unit of Alphabet Inc. formerly known as Google Life Sciences, plans to undergo a restructuring that includes cutting about 15% of its workforce – over 200 jobs in total.
Abzena laid off 66 employees from its San Diego, CA location, according to a WARN notice filed with the state of California.
Jan. 9:
Calithera Biosciences‘ board of directors has decided to dissolve the company and liquidate its assets, and most employees will be let go by the end of Q1. In 2021, Calithera bought two Phase II cancer assets from Takeda in an attempt to bounce back, but it announced in November that data from the assets had been delayed.
Editas Medicine announced it has cut 20% of staff, including Chief Scientific Officer Mark Shearman, Ph.D, in a pipeline reorganization. This follows the company’s November announcement that it planned to press pause on its lead asset, EDIT-101, due to disappointing data.
Jan. 6:
Elevation Oncology has cut 30% of its staff, including CEO Shawn Leland. As part of the restructuring, Elevation has also decided to shelf seribantumab, its solid tumor therapy.
Jan. 5:
Century Therapeutics announced it plans to lay off 25% of its staff in order to extend cash flow for three candidates: CNTY-101 and CNTY-102 for B-cell malignancies and CNTY-107 for solid tumors.
Jan. 4:
Y-mAbs Therapeutics stated it will implement a restructuring plan that includes reducing its workforce by 35% by the end of May. The biotech stated it plans to prioritize Danyelza, its treatment for relapsed/refractory, high-risk neuroblastoma.
DECEMBER 2022
Dec. 15:
Athenex Pharma Solutions filed a WARN notice with the state of New York stating it plans to close a production facility in Clarence, NY, laying off 92 employees as a result. The company stated the decision was due to financial difficulty, though it did not specify the cause.
Axcella Therapeutics announced that in an effort to reprioritize its resources, it will prioritize its Long COVID program and slash its headcount by 85%.
Dec. 9:
TherapeuticsMD, Inc. filed a notice with the state of Florida that stated it plans to lay off its entire workforce, totaling 212 employees.
Dec. 8:
Instil Bio announced it is discontinuing the development of its unmodified tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapeutic, ITIL-168, and laying off 60% of its staff.
Source: BioSpace
