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Biopharma Layoffs Roundup

Thermo Fisher Scientific and Charles River Laboratories layoff employees across locations Massachusetts.

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By: Kristin Brooks

Managing Editor, Contract Pharma

Layoffs in the biopharma sector contunue into 4Q 2024.

November 
Thermo Fisher Scientific will lay off 160 employees across locations in Lexington, Plainville and Cambridge, MA between January 6, 2025 and November 6, 2026, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice dated November 7. 
 
Thermo Fisher plans to close the 50,000-sq.-ft. CDMO site in Lexington, which opened in 2019 and provides development, testing and manufacture of viral vectors. The 290,000-sq.-ft. facility in Plainville provides viral vector services ranging from process development to commercial manufacturing.

Charles River Laboratories restructuring initiatives include laying off more than 1,300 employees since 2023, or approximately 6% of its workforce, according to Boston Business Journal.  
 
Additionally, in its 3Q24 earnings, Charles River stated that it is closing or consolidating 15 smaller sites that focus on discovery and safety assessment and regulatory management services.

October  
Pfizer is laying off 75 additional employees in Sanford, NC. Pfizer previously cut 150 positions in Sanford following a Phase 3 trial failure for its Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy candidate.  

Evonik is restructuring to focus on its strategic core growth areas. Evonik will evaluate strategic options, such as partnerships or divestment, for developing its keto and pharma amino acid production sites in Ham and Wuming. It is also planning to discontinue its production of keto acids in Hanau by the end of 2025, affecting around 260 employees. Evonik’s keto and pharma amino acid business generates an annual average revenue of around 100 million euros.
 
Johnson & Johnson is laying off 231 employees at its New Brunswick, NJ, headquarters effective December 27, 2024 according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice.
The company did not make an announcement regarding the layoffs.
 
Bayer is laying off 57 employees at its Whippany, NJ, headquarters effective December 27, 2024 according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice. The company did not make an announcement regarding the layoffs. Other recent cuts at Bayer include cutting 14 to 18 executive team members and eliminating 1,500 jobs, in May.
 
September
Bristol Myers Squibb’s most recent layoffs in Lawrenceville, NJ, involve 79 employees, effective between December 12 and May 30, bringing the total number of positions cut at the site to 1,134, according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices.    
 
AGC Biologics, a CDMO, will lay off 95 employees, effective November 22, 2024 according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices. The company did not make an announcement regarding the layoffs.
 
Charles River Labs is laying off 3% of its workforce, or approximately 650 people. According to an Aug. 2 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice, 13 workers in Frederick, MD, are being let go effective September 30.

April
Bristol Myers Squibb in its 1Q results announced a Strategic Productivity Initiative aimed at $1.5 billion in cost savings by the end of 2025. This includes laying off more than 2,200 employees. The restructuring plans are across the business, including site closures and R&D spending, a reduction of management layers and reduce third-party spending. 

Genentech plans to cut approximately 405 positions or 3% of its workforce across “several departments,” a spokesperson confirmed, as reported by Endpoints News. Earlier this year, parent company Roche announced cuts to its product development team.

Novartis plans to cut as many as 680 jobs within its development organization, which includes handling drug regulations, analytics, and support functions. Approximately 440 of these job cuts will be in Switzerland and as many as 240 in the U.S. The cuts are expected to take place over the next two to three years.
 
The job cuts are in addition to a restructuring program that would impact 8,000 of the company’s 78,000 global workforce, with approximately 3,000 of the roles currently in Switzerland and 2,000 in the U.S.

Sanofi’s pipeline reprioritization project to simplify its R&D structure will result in layoffs impacting an undisclosed number of positions. The company is shifting its focus to immunology.
 
Earlier this year Sanofi announced it will acquire Inhibrx for approximately $2.2 billion. Inhibrx is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing biologic therapeutic candidates in oncology and orphan diseases leveraging its protein engineering platforms.
 
Boehringer Ingelheim plans to cut some of its U.S. salesforce due to poor sales of Cyltezo, its biosimilar version of AbbVie’s Humira.
 
The company plans to reduce its customer-facing teams in favor of a hybrid in-person and virtual sales model by June 30, in large part because pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) had kept branded Humira on their lists of medicines for reimbursement, as reported by Reuters. This has led to less uptake of biosimilar versions of Humira in the U.S.
 
The company, which has 53,000 employees worldwide, added that a “low double-digit number” of U.S. jobs were affected, as reported by Reuters.

Bayer 
As part of a major restructuring announced January 2024, Bayer has reduced its executive suite from 14 to 8. Additionally, Bayer revealed in a WARN notice that it will lay off 90 employees at its U.S. headquarters in Whippany, NJ, effective June 19, as reported by Fierce Pharma. The layoffs were disclosed in a New Jersey Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification. 

Bristol Myers Squibb 
Bristol Myers Squibb disclosed in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) in California that 252 workers at the former Mirati Therapeutics headquarters in San Diego will be let go, effective April 22, as reported by Fierce Pharma. BMS completed its $4.8 billion acquisition of Mirati in January 2023, adding KRAZATI, an important lung cancer medicine, to its commercial portfolio.

GlaxoSmithKline
GSK plans to cut an undisclosed majority of former Bellus Health employees on March 31, according to a LinkedIn post from former Bellus CEO, Roberto Bellini. GSK acquired Bellus for $2 billion in 2023, gaining a Phase III candidate camlipixant, a P2X3 receptor antagonist in development to treat chronic cough.  

Catalent
As part of ongoing restructuring initiatives, Catalent will lay off approximately 130 staffers at its manufacturing plant in Bloomington, IN, according to a company spokesperson. The Bloomington facility is one of Catalent’s three fill-finish sites, along with facilities in Anagni, Italy, and Brussels, Belgium. Novo Nordisk entered an agreement to acquire Catalent in an all-cash transaction that values Catalent at $16.5 billion. The acquisition is expected to close late in 2024.

2023
The first quarter of 2023 ushered in a wave of layoffs in the biopharma sector. The following provides a financial snapshot and layoffs throughout the year at some of the industry’s larger firms, including Pfizer, Roche, Takeda, and Merck KGaA. Whether from economic fluctuations, lower demand for COVID vaccines and treatments, to failed programs or shifting focus, employees in the biopharma sector continue to be impacted. 

3Q23 Revenues: $13.2 billion (-42%)
3Q23 Loss: $2.4 billion (earnings were $8.6 billion 3Q22)
YTD Revenues: $44.2 billion (-42%)
YTD Earnings: $5.5 billion (-79%)
 
With the continued drop in Paxlovid and Comirnaty sales globally, Pfizer implemented an enterprise-wide cost realignment program aimed at generating $3.5 billion in savings through 2024. The program includes cutting approximately 200 employees at Pfizer’s Kalamazoo, MI site. The largest manufacturing site in the Pfizer network, this facility manufactures active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), drug products, and medical devices. The company also plans close its facility in Peapack, NJ in 2024. 

3Q Paxlovid and Comirnaty sales globally were down 97% to $7.3 billion, and 70% to $3.1 billion, respectively. Restructuring charges and certain acquisition-related costs were $155 million in the third quarter and $377 million YTD and includes charges/(credits) for employee terminations, asset impairments and other exit costs associated with business combinations. Read more about Pfizer’s 3Q results here.

Additionally, the realignment program will impact 100 jobs at its manufacturing plant in Newbridge, Kildare, Ireland, and as many as 500 employees at its Pharmaceutical Sciences facility in Sandwich, Kent in the UK.

Thermo Fisher Scientific
Headquarters: Waltham, MA
Headcount: 130,000   
3Q23 Revenues: $10.6 billion (-1%)        
3Q23 Earnings: $1.7 billion (+13%)
 
Thermo Fisher Scientific plans to close its plants in Auburn, AL in 2024, which will impact approximately 97 employees.

Earlier this year, the company announced plans to eliminate 384 jobs at three sites in San Diego, CA. The company cited reduced demand for COVID-19 testing kits as the reason. In April, Thermo Fisher Scientific said it plans to close a New Jersey manufacturing facility and cut 113 members of staff as a result. 
 
In a third round of layoffs implemented in San Diego so far this year, the most recent round includes 218 workers related to the closing of three facilities in San Diego, bringing the total number in the area to more than 500. 
 
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., based in Waltham, MA, is an American supplier of scientific instrumentation, reagents and consumables, and software services.

Headquarters: Thousand Oaks, CA
Headcount: 25,200
3Q23 Revenue: $6.9 billion (+4%)
3Q23 Earnings: $1.7 billion (-19%)
YTD Revenues: $20.0 billion (+3%)
YTD Earnings: $6.0 billion (+21%)
 
Amgen plans to cut 350 employees following its $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics. The layoffs include roles at Horizon that overlap with positions at Amgen and are scheduled from December 30 and are expected to continue throughout 2024. Approximately 80% of Horizon’s employees are expected to be absorbed into Amgen roles. Horizon had approximately 2,100 employees in 2022.

Earlier this year, Amgen announced plans to cut 450 jobs, citing drug pricing pressures and high inflation. In January, the company laid off approximately 300 employees as part of organizational changes. Amgen’s 4Q revenues were impacted by lower revenue from its COVID-19 manufacturing collaboration with Eli Lilly.
 
Amgen is also facing a lawsuit alleging Amgen concealed $10.7 billion due to the IRS. The tax disagreement is based on costs and profits related to Amgen’s Puerto Rico manufacturing operations. According to an Amgen spokesperson, the company believes the allegations are without merit and will defend itself against the case.
 
Amgen leverages the potential of biology for serious illnesses by discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering innovative therapeutics. Amgen uses tools like advanced human genetics to unravel the complexities of disease and understand the fundamentals of human biology. Its medicines fight against serious illnesses such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, asthma, and rheumatoid arthritis, among others.
 
Biogen
Headquarters: Cambridge, MA
Headcount: 8,725
2022 Revenue: $10,173 million (-7%)
Net Income: $2,962 million (+71%)
R&D: $2,231 million (-11%)
 
Biogen plans to cut 113 employees from Reata Pharmaceuticals’ Plano, TX site. This follows the recent acquisition of Reata Pharmaceuticals for $7.3 billion in July 2023. The layoffs impact approximately one third of Reata’s headcount and include general and administrative services and some development-focused jobs.
 
With the Reata acquisition, Biogen gained Skyclarys (omaveloxolone), the only FDA-approved treatment for Friedrich’s Ataxia, a rare disease that progressively damages the nervous system, which was approved in February 2023.

In its second quarter news release, Biogen announced a new “Fit for Growth” program that includes a headcount reduction of approximately 1,000. The program is expected to generate approximately $1 billion in operating expense savings, approximately $300 million of which will be reinvested into product launches and R&D programs. As a result, the company expects approximately $700 million in operating expense savings by 2025.
 
Biogen’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Christopher A. Viehbacher, said, “Biogen’s business is in transition. Accordingly, we have taken a bottom-up view to shift our resources to the areas of greatest value creation. While we will be making significant investments in our newly prioritized pipeline and new product launches, we will also need to invest less in other areas which are no longer growing.”

On July 6, the FDA granted traditional approval of LEQEMBI for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. 

Founded in 1978, Biogen is a global biotechnology company that has developed multiple breakthrough innovations including a portfolio of medicines to treat multiple sclerosis, the first approved treatment for spinal muscular atrophy, and two co-developed treatments to address a defining pathology of Alzheimer’s disease.
 
Headquarters: Rockville, MD   
Headcount: 2,416 
2Q Revenue: $337.9 million (+39%)
2Q Loss: $261.3 million (loss of $56.4 million 2Q22)
R&D: $26.0 million (-48%)

Emergent BioSolutions is reducing investment in and focus on its CDMO business, and is reducing operations at its facility in Baltimore, MD, and Canton, MA, following changes in the volume of U.S. government procurements of medical countermeasures. This will also result in a reduction in operations at the company’s Rockville, MD drug product facility. These actions aim to focus on medical countermeasures and NARCAN Nasal Spray products.
 
Emergent will lay off approximately 400 employees across all areas of the company. In combination with other cost reduction initiatives, these actions are expected to result in annualized savings of over $100 million when fully implemented. 
 
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. was recently awarded a 10-year contract by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), valued at up to a maximum of $704 million, for advanced development, manufacturing scale-up, and procurement of Ebanga (ansuvimab-zykl), a licensed treatment for Ebola virus disease (EVD).

Emergent develops, manufactures, and delivers products against public health threats through a pipeline of medical countermeasures, vaccines and therapeutics.
 
Roche 
Headquarters: Basel, Switzerland  
Headcount: 104,000
2022 Revenue: $71,920 million (+1%)
Pharma Revenue: $52,650 million (+1%)
Net Income: $14,650 million (-9%)
R&D: $17,348 million (+8%)
 
Roche is cutting 165 jobs in Branchburg, NJ, effective July 25, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act (WARN) notice filed in April. May 8th, Roche recalled COVID-19 At Home Tests citing concerns about bacteria within the liquid solution. This included about 500,000 tests shipped to CVS Health pharmacies and 16,000 tests stocked with Amazon.
 
The 63-acre Roche campus in Branchburg, is among the world’s largest polymerase chain reaction (PCR) manufacturing sites. Employees there develop and manufacture an array of medical diagnostic assays.
 
Roche is a Swiss multinational healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics.
 
Novavax 
Headquarters: Gaithersburg, MD 
Headcount: 1,992
2022 Revenue: $1,982 million (+73%)
Loss: $657.9 million (loss of $1.7 billion FY22)
R&D expenses: $1,235.2 million (-51%)
 
In its first-quarter earnings report, Novavax announced plans to cut its global workforce by approximately 25%, the layoffs include about 500 employees. This follows the week launch of its COVID-19 vaccine and dwindling demand. The strategic reorganization aims to enable the company to cut costs by 20% to 25% this year and contribute toward its goal of reducing its annual expenditure by around 40% to 50% by 2024.
 
Novavax, Inc. is an American biotechnology company based in Gaithersburg, MD that develops vaccines for serious infectious diseases. Prior to 2020, the company developed experimental vaccines for influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, as well as Ebola and other emerging infectious diseases.
 
Takeda
Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan 
Headcount: 50,000+
FY 2021 Revenue: $29,266 million (+12%)
Net Income: $1,886 million (-39%)
R&D: $4,314 million (+15%)
 
Takeda plans to cut 186 employees across sites in Cambridge, Lexington and North Reading, Massachusetts. Approximately 138 jobs will be cut from Takeda Development Centers America, and 48 from Takeda Shire Human Genetic Therapies, Inc. This follows the company’s recent decision to reduce its preclinical and discovery efforts in adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapies and rare hematology and focus on its core therapeutic areas.
 
Takeda is an R&D-driven, Japanese multinational pharmaceutical company. Its core therapeutic and business areas include oncology, rare genetics and hematology, neuroscience, gastroenterology, plasma-derived therapies and vaccines.
 
The company recently announced an AI-based protein design to optimize the properties of protein biologics, a joint venture with Arzeda.
 
Merck KGaA
Headquarters: Darmstadt, Germany
Headcount: 64,243
2022 Revenue: $23,732 million (+13%)
Net Income: $3,564 million (+9%)
R&D expenses: $2,691 million (+4%)
 
Merck KGaA’s EMD Serono plans to cut 133 members of staff at its research center in Billerica, MA. This follows recently announced plans to prioritize R&D and rely more heavily on its partnerships for drug development.
 
Restructuring at Merck KGaA has so far this year resulted several cuts, inlcuding 26% staff reduction in Billerica, MA, which has approximately 500 employees, and an 11% reduction in the entire U.S. wing of the company, EMD Serono. The shutdown of the company’s Geneva site will include another 1,100 positions in Germany. 
 
More recently, EMD Serono announced plans to cut another six members of staff at its research center in Billerica, MA, beginning this May. 
 
The Merck Group is a German multinational science and technology company headquartered in Darmstadt. The group includes around 250 companies; the main company is Merck KGaA in Germany. The company is divided into three businesses: Healthcare, Life Sciences, and Electronics.
 
Eisai
Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan
Headcount: ~10,183   
2022 Revenue: $5.55 billion (-12.7%)
Net Income: $344.6 million (+1%)
 
In February, Eisai said that it would be letting go 91 workers from its Fycompa team, effective April 30th, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) alert from New Jersey. Fycompa, an anti-epileptic medication, was recently sold to Catalyst Pharmaceuticals.
 
Eisai is a pharmaceutical company operating globally in terms of R&D, manufacturing and marketing, with a strong focus on prescription medicines. Its therapeutic areas of expertise and focus are neurology and oncology, where there are many diseases for which adequate treatments have yet to be established.
 
Read More: Eisai Completes Major Renovation of Tsukuba Research Laboratories
   
Grifols
Headquarters: Barcelona, Spain
Headcount: 23,000   
2022 Revenue: $6,473 million (+23%)           
Net Income: $208.0 million (+10%)
 
Grifols announced an operational restructuring plan focused on three major areas: optimizing plasma costs and operations, streamlining corporate functions, and enhancing other efficiencies across the organization. Under the initiative, the company will lay off approximately 2,300 employees, most of whom are in the U.S., with approximately one-third located in Spain.  
 
Grifols expects to achieve annualized cost savings of approximately $427 million relative to comparable 2022 full year costs. This plan will be initiated in the first quarter of 2023 and is expected to be completed through the fiscal year.
 
Grifols is a global healthcare company that develops plasma-derived medicines and other innovative biopharmaceutical solutions. Grifols is focused on treating conditions across a broad range of therapeutic areas: neurology, immunology, hepatology and intensive care, pulmonology, hematology and infectious diseases.
 
Genentech (subsidiary of Roche)
Headquarters: South San Francisco, CA
Headcount: 13,638  
2022 Revenue: $166.9 million            
 
Genentech plans to close a production facility in South San Francisco, CA, as a result 271 employees will be laid off.
 
Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, is a biotechnology company dedicated discovering and developing medicines for serious and life-threatening diseases. The company’s discoveries include the first targeted antibody for cancer and the first medicine for primary progressive multiple sclerosis. 
 
Ferring Pharmaceuticals 
Headquarters: Saint-Prex, Switzerland 
Headcount: 6,000
2022 Revenues: $24,552 million (+5%)
 
Ferring Pharmaceuticals is closing its research facility in San Diego, CA and as a result 89 employees will be laid off, effective May 26. According to a company statement, Ferring is focusing on external innovation to make the best use of capital following two FDA approvals at the end of 2022.
 
Ferring Pharmaceuticals is a Swiss biopharmaceutical company specializing in reproductive health, maternal health, gastroenterology and urology.

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