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By PharmaCompass
2025-01-16
Impressions: 4405
Since 2022, there has been a significant surge in layoffs by pharmaceutical and biotech companies. While this trend continued into 2024, the industry showed signs of stabilization in the last four months of the year with the pace of layoffs slowing down.
Nonetheless, 2024 was a challenging year. Data compiled by PharmaCompass indicates that over 25,000 layoffs were announced in 2024, driven by economic pressures, failed clinical trials, and strategic pivots.
Bristol Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson led the layoffs with about 2,300 job cuts each. Bayer announced elimination of 1,800 positions.
View Our Interactive Dashboard on Biopharma Layoffs in 2024 (Free Excel Available)
US, Europe, China bear brunt of job cuts; Big Pharma hands pink slips to 10,000
Over 190 biopharma companies announced layoffs in 2024. The year began on a grim note — 27 firms announced significant job cuts in January 2024. By the yearend, Big Pharma alone had contributed more than 10,000 layoffs to the year’s total of over 25,000.
Novartis announced over 1,200 job cuts in 2024. It eliminated 330 jobs after it acquired German biotech MorphoSys through the closure of sites in Munich and Boston. Similarly, Bayer announced significant reductions at its US and Swiss facilities.
North America saw increased retrenchments, especially at biotech hubs such as Boston, San Diego, and New Jersey. Massachusetts, with Boston and Cambridge as the epicenter of US biotechnology, saw around 4,000 layoffs, with companies like Relay Therapeutics, Editas Medicine, and Takeda driving the numbers.
In San Diego, workforce reductions by Takeda, and Bavarian Nordic collectively resulted in over 900 job losses, significantly impacting the local biotech ecosystem. New Jersey was subject to broader restructuring efforts with BMS and Bayer contributing nearly 1,500 layoffs.
The impact in Europe was equally severe. Germany, home to some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, saw over 2,500 layoffs as Bayer and Boehringer Ingelheim scaled back operations. Novartis’ decision to shut down its Munich site added hundreds more to the tally.
In Switzerland, Idorsia eliminated 270 positions. Dutch biotech UniQure reduced its workforce by 65 percent (around 300 jobs). That included the sale of a Massachusetts manufacturing facility to Genezen. Denmark also felt the strain, with Leo Pharma cutting 250 roles as part of a strategic revamp.
China emerged as another focal point of workforce reductions in 2024. Global pharmaceutical giants, such as Merck and Johnson & Johnson, restructured their operations in response to market complexities in the region. Local companies such as Connect Biopharma, which is transitioning to a US-focused company, also scaled back their presence in the country.
View Our Interactive Dashboard on Biopharma Layoffs in 2024 (Free Excel Available)
Amylyx, FibroGen, Lyra, Athira drastically reduce staff over setbacks in clinical trials
Clinical trial failures were one of the most significant drivers of layoffs in 2024. For instance, Amylyx Pharmaceuticals faced a devastating blow when its amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) therapy, Relyvrio, failed a confirmatory trial. This led to a 70 percent reduction in its workforce, leaving only 100 employees from the 384 full-time staff reported at the end of 2023. The company’s decision to pull the therapy from the market compounded the layoffs.
BioMarin Pharmaceutical had to reduce its workforce, as it streamlined its pipeline in response to trial challenges. In August, the company announced a reduction of 225 employees, citing “organizational redesign efforts”. These layoffs followed 170 redundancies announced earlier in May.
FibroGen, once considered a leader in oncology drug development, was among the most heavily impacted. The high-profile failure of its anti-CTGF antibody in two late-stage cancer trials led to the discontinuation of its lead candidate, resulting in a 75 percent reduction in its US workforce.
Lyra Therapeutics also implemented a 75 percent workforce reduction, affecting 87 employees, after its chronic rhinosinusitis program struggled. Similarly, Athira Pharma cut 70 percent of its team after its Alzheimer’s candidate failed a phase 2/3 trial.
View Our Interactive Dashboard on Biopharma Layoffs in 2024 (Free Excel Available)
Cash crunch, mergers compel Kronos Bio, Editas, Vincerx, Gilead to downsize
In addition to clinical failures, funding constraints played a pivotal role in reshaping the biotech landscape. Kronos Bio stood out as one of the hardest-hit firms, cutting 21 percent and 83 percent of its existing workforce in March and November, respectively, as it sought to divest assets and conserve cash.
Editas Medicine’s inability to secure partnerships for its sickle cell program forced the company to revert to preclinical research, resulting in a 65 percent workforce reduction.
The trend of scaling back R&D pipelines was particularly evident among biotechs struggling to advance preclinical programs to clinical trials. Boundless Bio and Senti Bio exemplified this, choosing to focus on a handful of promising candidates, while reducing discovery efforts.
Consolidation often results in overlapping roles, leading to inevitable workforce reductions. Apart from the MorphoSys layoffs by Novartis, Vincerx Pharma faced job losses after it got acquired by Oqory (a clinical-stage ADC company). Vincerx had to cut its workforce by 55 percent.
Amid ongoing reorganization efforts, Gilead closed its Seattle, Washington (US), office and laid off 72 employees of its subsidiary Kite Pharma. Gilead also announced that its Kite facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (US), would close by mid-2025. That was followed by 104 additional layoffs at its California headquarters. In April, it had cut 58 jobs in California. Gilead also announced that its Kite facility in Philadelphia would close by mid-2025.
Vir Biotechnology reduced its workforce by 25 percent (i.e. 140 layoffs) to focus on its hepatitis program, and GlycoMimetics let go of 80 percent of its workforce after the FDA demanded an additional clinical trial for its leukemia treatment. Meanwhile, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals reduced its workforce by 60 percent after it stopped commercial operations and transitioned back to being a clinical stage company.
View Our Interactive Dashboard on Biopharma Layoffs in 2024 (Free Excel Available)
Our view
It takes decades to build innovation ecosystems. The concentration of layoffs in major biotech hubs has raised concerns about the potential long-term impact on these ecosystems.
In 2025, the key challenge will be to maintain the momentum of innovation, as organizations operate with a leaner workforce and a more focused pipeline.
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Image Credit : BMS, J&J LEAD BIOPHARMA LAYOFFS IN 2024 by PharmaCompass license under CC BY 2.0
“ The article is based on the information available in public and which the author believes to be true. The author is not disseminating any information, which the author believes or knows, is confidential or in conflict with the privacy of any person. The views expressed or information supplied through this article is mere opinion and observation of the author. The author does not intend to defame, insult or, cause loss or damage to anyone, in any manner, through this article.”
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