Layoffs Continue to Reshape Pharmaceutical Industry Landscape

Major Players Implement Significant Workforce Reductions

Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) announced further layoffs as part of its ongoing cost-cutting initiative, bringing the total number of employees let go in Lawrenceville, New Jersey to 1,134 this year and next. The latest round affects 79 employees who will depart between December 12 and May 30. This follows BMS's April announcement of a "strategic productivity initiative" aimed at generating $1.5 billion in savings through 2025, including the elimination of about 2,200 jobs by the end of 2024.

Pfizer is also continuing its workforce reductions, laying off 150 employees from its Sanford, North Carolina facility and 60 from its Rocky Mount site. These cuts are part of Pfizer's larger $3.5 billion cost-cutting plan announced in October 2023, with an additional $1.5 billion in cuts planned over the next several years.

Meanwhile, Takeda disclosed plans to lay off 220 more employees in Massachusetts - 189 in Cambridge and 31 in Lexington. This brings Takeda's total layoffs or announced cuts to over 1,300 employees so far in 2024.

Biotech Firms Face Setbacks and Restructuring

Several biotech companies have announced significant workforce reductions following clinical trial failures or strategic shifts:

FibroGen will eliminate 75% of its U.S.-based workforce after two late-stage trials failed to meet primary endpoints. The company is implementing an "immediate and significant" cost reduction plan to terminate its pamrevlumab program and halt related obligations.

Vir Biotechnology plans to lay off 25% of its workforce, eliminating approximately 140 roles, as part of a major shift in research and development priorities. The company will abandon its work on COVID-19 and influenza to focus on hepatitis B and D programs and expand into cancer research through a deal with Sanofi.

Aerovate Therapeutics announced it will lay off "nearly all of its workforce" following the Phase IIb failure of its pulmonary arterial hypertension candidate. The company has already notified 39 people - 78% of its workforce - of their terminations.

Industry-wide Trend of Restructuring and Cost-cutting

The pharmaceutical and biotech sectors continue to see widespread workforce reductions as companies realign their priorities and seek to reduce costs:

Genentech will lay off 93 employees at its South San Francisco headquarters, with scientist roles being the hardest hit. This follows a previous round of cuts in April that affected about 3% of its workforce.

Bayer announced the layoff of 70 people at its Whippany, New Jersey headquarters, effective at the end of October. This is part of the company's adoption of a new operating model and organizational structure.

These layoffs reflect an ongoing trend in the pharmaceutical industry as companies respond to various pressures, including patent expirations, pricing challenges, and the need to reallocate resources to promising new areas of research and development.