During its second quarter earnings report, Merck CEO Rob Davis announced a $3 billion reduction in company spending, which will be distributed across administrative, sales, and research and development roles. The company expects to realize annual savings of approximately $1.7 billion, aiming to reach the $3 billion target by 2027.
Davis emphasized that the reductions are seen more as a “reallocation” of resources rather than outright cuts. Merck plans to reinvest the saved capital into areas such as research and development and new hires, although the number of affected roles was not disclosed.
On July 29, Hookipa shareholders approved a plan to delist from Nasdaq, divest certain assets—including its immunotherapy programs for hepatitis B and HIV to long-term partner Gilead—and liquidate the remainder of the company, as confirmed by an SEC filing.
Gilead paid Hookipa $10 million for the assets. Their collaboration dates back to 2018, when Gilead initially paid the same amount upfront for the rights to the hepatitis and HIV programs, with a potential for $400 million in milestone payments. In 2023, Hookipa received a $5 million milestone payment related to the development of a hepatitis B vaccine.
In November 2024, Hookipa announced plans to reduce its workforce by approximately 80% and to shut down or consolidate operations in Vienna, Austria. As of January 31, 2025, the company had 82 full-time employees.
U.K.-based Adaptimmune Therapeutics plans to cut 62% of its workforce once its deal to sell four cell therapy assets to US WorldMeds closes, according to an SEC filing. US WorldMeds, a specialty pharma based in Louisville, Kentucky, intends to offer employment to about half of the biotech’s workforce as part of the transaction.
Adaptimmune expects to cut about 100 staffers across its U.S. and U.K. sites. The company has two U.S. locations: one in Philadelphia and the other in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Adaptimmune also downsized its workforce earlier this year, letting go of 29% of its employees in the first quarter—slightly less than the 33% it had initially planned to cut.
Under the asset purchase agreement, US WorldMeds will pay $55 million in cash for Adaptimmune’s Tecelra, lete-cel, afami-cel and uza-cel cell therapies. Tecelra is the first FDA-approved engineered T cell therapy for solid tumors. The buyer may also pay up to $30 million in milestone-based payments.
Adaptimmune has expressed concerns about its ability to continue as a going concern and stated it is actively pursuing cost-reduction measures. The biotech is also exploring “all strategic options” for its business and programs, according to a March investor call.
Rocket Pharmaceuticals is laying off 30% of its workforce as part of a strategic realignment to prioritize late-stage heart disease programs, the company announced July 24.
A total of 80 employees at Rocket’s Cranbury, New Jersey, site will be affected, according to a WARN Act notice. The layoffs will begin October 23 and continue through the end of the year, reducing the company’s 12-month cash burn by nearly 25%.
Rocket will concentrate on its cardiovascular gene therapy programs, including treatments for Danon disease, PKP2-associated arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, and BAG3-associated dilated cardiomyopathy.
Adicet Bio is reducing its workforce by 30% as part of a pipeline prioritization initiative. As of December 31, 2024, the company had 152 employees, suggesting around 46 jobs will be affected.
According to an SEC filing, the layoffs are expected to be “substantially complete” by the end of Q3. Adicet anticipates $2.3 million in one-time termination costs, mostly for severance and related expenses.
The company will focus its resources on ADI-001 for autoimmune diseases and ADI-212 for prostate cancer while discontinuing development of ADI-270 for renal cell carcinoma.
With $150.4 million in cash as of March 31, Adicet projects its funding runway to extend into Q4 2026.
Genentech is laying off 87 employees at its South San Francisco headquarters, marking the second round of cuts this year.
The reductions, effective September 15, were disclosed in a recent WARN Act notice. Genentech previously laid off 143 employees in late May, with those changes taking effect July 14.
A spokesperson previously stated that periodic adjustments are necessary to ensure the company’s workforce aligns with its evolving priorities and mission to deliver innovative medicines.
Tessera Therapeutics is laying off 17% of its workforce to support its transition into clinical development later this year, according to Fierce Biotech.
This follows a previous workforce reduction in August 2024, when Tessera cut 13–14% of its staff—fewer than 50 employees—after reaching a key development milestone.
Tessera’s gene writing platform aims to rewrite genetic code to treat diseases at their source. The company is valued at $1.7 billion, according to PitchBook.
Generate:Biomedicines is cutting 10% of its workforce to strategically balance its talent and stay ahead in technology innovation, Fierce Biotech reported.
The company, with sites in Somerville and Andover, Massachusetts, has not disclosed the number of affected employees or the timeline for the layoffs.
Founded by Flagship and valued at $2 billion, Generate:Biomedicines uses AI to design novel protein therapeutics. It has partnered with Amgen and Novartis in multi-billion-dollar deals.
GSK is laying off 150 employees in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as it relocates manufacturing of its MAPS-based pneumococcal vaccine to Marietta, Pennsylvania.
The layoffs, effective October 4 through March 31, follow GSK’s October announcement of an $800 million investment to expand the Marietta facility. The site will handle R&D and commercial manufacturing of MAPS-based products.
This is the second layoff disclosure by GSK this month. The company is also trimming its global R&D workforce by an unspecified number.
BioNTech is cutting 32 employees at its Gaithersburg, Maryland site, according to a WARN notice dated July 18. The layoffs take effect September 16.
In June, the company let go of 63 workers at another Gaithersburg location and announced the closure of its cell therapy manufacturing operations there by year’s end.
The layoffs follow an executive departure, with Chief Strategy Officer Ryan Richardson stepping down by mutual agreement.
Sail Biomedicines is letting go of 36 employees to align resources with its focus on an immunology pipeline and in vivo CAR T program, a company spokesperson told BioSpace.
This is Sail’s second round of layoffs in 2025. In April, the company cut 12 employees during a reorganization. The company is now estimated to have fewer than 90 staff.
Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics has laid off 30 employees at its Madison, Wisconsin site as part of a resource deployment restructuring, the company confirmed.
The move comes amid a broader market slowdown due to reduced venture capital investment in early-stage cell therapy development. Fujifilm’s business includes cell manufacturing for drug discovery and therapy.
Sarepta Therapeutics is laying off over a third of its workforce—around 500 employees—following a strategic review. The move comes after a challenging period that included two patient deaths tied to its Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy Elevidys, and the addition of a black box warning for liver-related safety risks.
In its July 16 announcement, the Cambridge, Massachusetts–based biotech said it would focus on high-impact programs, particularly those involving its siRNA platform. Target indications include facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and Huntington’s disease.
The company did not specify the geographic distribution of the layoffs, but Sarepta has facilities in Cambridge, Andover, Burlington, and Bedford, Massachusetts; Columbus, Ohio; and Durham, North Carolina.
GSK is making unspecified layoffs within its global R&D team, which numbers more than 12,000 employees. A spokesperson characterized the move as affecting a “very limited number of positions,” according to a July 15 report from Fierce Biotech.
The announcement coincided with the FDA’s release of a briefing document raising concerns about the efficacy and safety of GSK’s antibody-drug conjugate Blenrep for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. An advisory committee meeting on Blenrep’s application was scheduled for July 17.
Ventus Therapeutics is reducing its workforce by an undisclosed number as part of a “recalibration” strategy aimed at supporting mid-stage trials and accelerating its ReSOLVE drug discovery engine. The company has 97 associated members listed on LinkedIn.
The Waltham, Massachusetts–based biotech is advancing a pipeline of immune-modulating therapies, including its lead asset VENT-02 for Parkinson’s disease and VENT-03 for lupus and refractory rheumatoid arthritis. Ventus is also collaborating with Novo Nordisk on its VENT-01 program.
Karyopharm Therapeutics is cutting approximately 20% of its workforce as it evaluates options to extend its cash runway, which may include a merger or sale. The Newton, Massachusetts–based company had 279 employees as of February 14, 2025.
This marks the second round of layoffs in 2025 for Karyopharm, which did not disclose which offices will be impacted. The company is continuing to invest in its multiple myeloma franchise and in Phase III trials for myelofibrosis and endometrial cancer.
Azurity Pharmaceuticals is laying off 75 employees between September 12 and December 31 at its Wilmington, Massachusetts manufacturing and operations site, according to a WARN notice.
The Woburn, Massachusetts–based specialty pharma has about 675 associated members on LinkedIn and focuses on underserved patient populations. Azurity recently received FDA approval for XIFYRM, an IV NSAID for moderate to severe pain in adults.
Pacira BioSciences is eliminating 71 positions—around 8% of its workforce—in San Diego, effective September 7. The move follows manufacturing upgrades that made earlier production methods redundant, according to an SEC filing.
The Tampa, Florida–based company estimates the layoffs will reduce annual operating expenses by $13 million and will incur $2.4 million to $2.8 million in one-time termination costs. The company makes Exparel, a non-opioid local anesthetic.
Century Therapeutics is cutting 51% of its workforce—around 77 employees—in a restructuring effort meant to focus on its most promising programs. The layoffs are expected to conclude in Q3 and will incur $3.7 million in severance-related costs.
The Pennsylvania-based company is advancing CNTY-101, a cell therapy for B cell–mediated diseases. Century had 150 employees as of March 1, 2025. Two executives, CFO Morgan Conn and CDO Adrienne Farid, are also departing as part of the shakeup.
Jasper Therapeutics is laying off about half of its workforce, leaving approximately 30 employees remaining to focus on ongoing trials for its antibody briquilimab. The move comes after problematic study data due to a compromised drug batch.
Chief Medical Officer Edwin Tucker will depart, with Daniel Adelman stepping in as acting CMO on August 1. The reorganization aims to extend Jasper’s cash runway. The company had 60 full-time employees at the end of Q1 2025.
CSL is undergoing an R&D consolidation, though the number of affected employees remains unclear. The company said more details would be shared during its annual earnings call in August, according to Fierce Biotech.
This move follows CSL Behring’s closure of its gene therapy site in Pasadena, CA last November, affecting 60 employees. CSL plans to increasingly rely on external partners for pipeline development.
4D Molecular Therapeutics is reducing its workforce by 25% to prioritize late-stage execution, the company announced. The layoffs will primarily affect early-stage R&D staff. As of February 2025, 4DMT employed 227 people.
The restructuring is expected to generate $15 million in annual compensation savings. The company is accelerating Phase III trials of its lead therapy 4D-150 for wet AMD. It had $458 million in cash and equivalents as of March 31.
Oncternal Therapeutics is ceasing operations and retaining just one employee—Craig Jalbert—to oversee the wind-down. All other executives, directors, and staff have resigned. The total number of layoffs is not confirmed.
Previously, the San Diego biotech had undergone two layoff rounds in 2024. As part of its closure, Oncternal sold its lead asset zilovertamab and CAR T program ONCT-808 to Ho’ola Therapeutics for $3 million upfront and up to $65 million in milestones.
Following its acquisition by Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Sage Therapeutics is laying off all 338 of its remaining employees in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The layoffs will take effect August 22, according to a WARN notice.
Sage’s entire team, including 98 R&D personnel, will be let go. Supernus announced its acquisition of Sage for $591 million, with the total value potentially reaching $795 million through milestone payments. The deal is expected to close in Q3.
Bristol Myers Squibb is cutting 68 additional positions in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, as part of a broader cost-cutting initiative. The layoffs will occur in waves from September 25 through January 15, 2026.
These cuts bring the total number of layoffs in Lawrenceville since April 2024 to 1,223, including 874 in 2025 alone. The company is targeting $3.5 billion in savings through 2027 as part of its strategic reorganization.
