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Merck & Co. is reducing its New Jersey workforce. Eighty-eight employees at its Rahway headquarters will be affected. This action is part of a multiyear $3 billion cost-cutting plan. Merck previously confirmed 6,000 global job reductions. The company plans to reinvest savings into new product launches.
Rahway, New Jersey
https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/merck-shrinks-headcount-88-nj-3b-cost-cutting-scheme-rolls
My partner works for AZ and in a recent town hall meeting they said they play to reduce costs by 30% by 2030 with AI being the main focus. Expect more layoffs to come
Biontech plans significant production cuts. This German company will reduce its workforce. Approximately 1,800 staff members will depart. Decreased demand for COVID-19 vaccines drives this decision. Biontech developed its vaccine with Pfizer.
https://medwatch.com/article19266743.ece
Any other pharmacists laid off on 4/30 from OptumRx? 15 years with the company. Anyone know numbers on all these layoffs ?
Novartis announced additional job cuts at its U.S. headquarters. Sixty employees at the East Hanover site will be laid off. These reductions are separate from earlier March cuts. The layoffs will begin taking effect in late July. Novartis is evolving its field sales teams in the US.
East Hanover, New Jersey
https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/after-march-cuts-novartis-trims-another-60-roles-us-headquarters
Astellas Pharma is closing its Universal Cells office. This office is located in Seattle. The closure will result in some position relocations. These positions will move to South San Francisco. Other positions will move to Westborough, Massachusetts.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2026/04/13/astellas-pharma-universal-cells-stem-biotech.html
PharmaCann Inc. will close its Pennsylvania ca--abis facility. This closure affects 60 workers. The layoffs are scheduled for May 20. The company defaulted on its facility lease. This action follows a settlement with Innovative Industrial Properties.
Olyphant, Pennsylvania
https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/us-states/pennsylvania/news/15820524/pharmacann-closing-pennsylvania-ca--abis-facility-laying-off-60-more-workers
Large pharmaceutical companies collectively reduced their workforces by over 22,000 in 2025. This contraction occurred as the industry faces a $300 billion patent cliff. Many firms implemented cost cuts and layoffs to maintain profits. Pfizer, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi were among those with significant reductions. Conversely, Eli Lilly and Amgen notably expanded their employee numbers.
https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/large-pharma-companies-reduced-headcount-over-22000-2025-300b-patent-cliff-looms
It’s my bet they only supplied Pfizer during the pandemic cutting off dr-gs in phase trials, ki-ling the dr-g programs wholesale. In other words, destroying their sales pipeline, alienating researchers, blowing up trust. No wonder they don’t need the Lamar site for the foreseeable future.
From what I gather, these are standalone, triggered by the steep drop in Gardasil sales. Given where things are headed, I'm worried we'll see more layoffs beyond the announced targets. It's terrifying, really, especially with the industry-wide contraction in jobs.
Yep. RIF today. Not sure how many, but it affected the Health/Pharm area.
Anything more?
Any knowledge out there about what is happening with OptumRx? Any rumors about the status of the various pharmacy locations? There were stories at the end of December where they lost a significant amount of pharmacy business with CalPers moving to CVS. There were also other scattered stories about various states moving to other options for Medicaid. All that combined with an enrollment decline in ACA plans would seem like a big problem, but here it seems to be mostly Optum Health that is discussed.
Pharma Companies Hire Laid-Off Novo Nordisk Staff
https://medwatch.com/News/Pharma___Biotech/article18956256.ece
Novo Nordisk laid off 5,000 employees in fall 2025. CEO Mike Doustdar initiated these redundancies on September 10, 2025. These layoffs affected the Danish part of the company. Several pharmaceutical firms are now recruiting these former employees. Gubra, Bavarian Nordic, Lundbeck, and Rias are among the active recruiters.
Not sure about layoffs but here we go...
GSK Acquires Rapt Therapeutics for $2.2 Billion
https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/astellas-ceo-bd-plan-takeda-us-layoffs-chugai-chase-name-recognition
The pharma industry saw several significant developments. GSK acquired Rapt Therapeutics for $2.2 billion, primarily for a phase 2 food allergy dr-g. Takeda is laying off 243 U.S. neuroscience employees ahead of Trintellix's patent expiry. Pfizer sold its 11.7% stake in ViiV Healthcare to Shionogi for $1.9 billion. Astellas CEO stated the company will not pursue "rescue BD" despite an upcoming patent cliff. Chugai seeks greater name recognition and external partnerships as part of its long-term strategy.
Following several years of headcount reductions, Takeda has unveiled another round of job cuts that will affect its commercial workforce across the U.S. The layoffs are expected to impact 243 field employees working in 47 states
https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/takeda-cuts-243-us-workers-generic-competition-looms-trintellix
The layoffs are slated to affect 243 field-based employees in 47 states and the District of Columbia, a company spokesperson said. The company revealed its plan in a Jan. 14 filing to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/takeda-cuts-243-us-workers-generic-competition-looms-trintellix
Curia, based in Albany, New York, partners with pharmaceutical and biotech companies to help them with research, development, and manufacturing, according to its website. The company got its start in 1991 as Albany Molecular Research, Inc. and has grown steadily over the years. Today, Curia employs more than 3,000 people worldwide.Curia Global will eliminate its location at 20 Blanchard Road, Burlington between March 10 and June 1, according to a Massachusetts Workers Adjustment Retraining Notice filed with the state on Jan. 14.
https://www.masslive.com/business/2026/01/pharmaceutical-manufacturer-to-close-mass-facility-lay-off-81.html
The facility I work at still pays us for 7 holidays, but only gives us the day off for 3 of them: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day.
Is this the new normal for everyone in Pharma?
This is apparently a big story: Eli Lily is dropping Caremark as their PBM and moving to Rightway (same as Tyson Foods had done a few years back). Rightway is a fee service PBM (no rebates, odd pricing, etc).
I feel like CareMark is really endangered
Source:
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/eli-lilly-drops-cvs-dr-g-plan-workers-after-novo-obesity-deal-bloomberg-news-2025-11-12/
Upsher-Smith will close its Plymouth, Minnesota plant at 14905 23rd Avenue North and lay off 58 workers. The closure date is April 1, 2025, with layoffs occurring in two or three waves through July 31. Some Plymouth staff will transfer to the company’s Maple Grove facility at 6701 Evenstad Dr. N., which will remain open. A portion of the layoffs will occur at Maple Grove.
The move follows the company’s 2024 acquisition by Taiwan based Bora Pharmaceuticals for 210 million dollars. Upsher-Smith framed the closure as a strategic realignment to optimize global operations and better serve customers. The firm manufactures several generic dr-gs, including vigabatrin, everolimus, and topiramate.
Founded in 1919 by Frederick Alfred Upsher Smith, the company was owned by Ken Evenstad from 1969 and later sold to Japan based Sawai Pharmaceutical in 2017 before the 2024 sale to Bora. The WARN notice detailing the closure was filed with Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development.
Novo Nordisk, the Danish dr-g manufacturer behind the weight-loss and diabetes dr-g Ozempic and other medications, said it's paying up to $5.2 billion to buy Akero Therapeutics, a biotech company with a dr-g in a late-stage trial to treat a fatal liver disease.
https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20251009145/novo-nordisk-is-paying-up-to-52-billion-for-a-san-francisco-biotech-working-on-liver-disease
But I’d still keep my resume updated and keep an eye on other opportunities. The massive layoffs just proved that we’re the first ones on the line when they need to buy some more time.
J&J have had employees working from home since COVID in 2020 and they are still working from home up to now. These employees are working side jobs and working on their home renovation projects while getting paid from J & J. It's time for J & J to do some housing cleaning. These are non-essential, none value added employees. They can be let go and this will save the company millions of dollars.
A Takeda spokesperson confirmed to FirstWord on Thursday that 137 of its employees in Massachusetts will be let go due to this change.
The layoffs are the latest to hit the pharma's workers in the state. Last year, Takeda cut nearly 1000 staffers in Massachusetts.
https://firstwordpharma.com/story/6230311
Gotta be a play for the Trump plan to take over the PBM industry:
Use his office to squeeze pharma companies with threat of tariffs to get prices down
PBM reform that breaks up health insurers from owning PBMs
Launch his own new private wholesale channel for dr-g distribution that hoovers up all the business
Fun to see what happens with OptumRx! Will we be smart enough to sell off before this all goes down?
When a salesperson is in charge of a Pharma, science and research become secondary! It's going to be a bloodbath at GSK in the next few months! I wonder why she left—she saw it coming, that the UK is in deep trouble?
From what I can tell, Novo Nordisk (9,000 employees), Merck (~6,000 employees), Bayer, BMS, Novartis, and Pfizer have all announced major layoffs. Should we anticipate a similar announcement from Illumina soon, or is it more likely in Q4?
Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk has cut a U.S. sales team focused on obesity and diabetes education for healthcare providers, according to two sources close to the company and LinkedIn posts reviewed by Reuters, an early sign of the dr-gmaker's push to cut costs and regain ground on rival Eli Lilly.
https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/novo-nordisk-cuts-us-obesity-education-team-layoffs-begin-say-sources-online-2025-09-18/
Novo Nordisk (NASDAQ Copenhagen: NOVO-B) inflicted much pain—and much-needed pain—on the company when president and CEO Maziar (Mike) Doustdar announced plans to lay off about 9,000 of its 78,400 employees, a spot check of analyst comments by StockWatch found this past week.
https://www.genengnews.com/gen-edge/stockwatch-analysts-see-pain-and-necessity-in-novo-nordisks-9000-layoffs/
Novo Nordisk is cutting some 9,000 staff across its global operations in a bid to generate around $1.25 billion in annualized savings through 2026.
The layoffs amount to an 11% headcount reduction, according to BMO Capital Markets.
https://www.biospace.com/business/novo-axes-9-000-employees-worldwide-as-new-ceo-makes-good-on-cost-reallocation-promise
Title: CSL Overhauls Business With Vaccine Spinout, 15 percent Layoffs
Company/Org: CSL
News Source: BioSpace
Location: Various, Global
Summary: CSL plans to spin out its vaccine business and reduce headcount by about 15 percent, targeting 500 to 550 million dollars in annualized savings over three years.
URL:https://www.biospace.com/business/csl-overhauls-business-with-vaccine-spinout-15-layoffs
With more bad news about the company coming out, layoffs are starting to feel closer and more likely. The outgoing CEO did say a couple of weeks ago that they might become unavoidable. Wondering if anyone’s heard anything new.
Month Posted: August
Effective Layoff Date: August 14, 2025
Number of Employees Affected: 58
=THIS MAY BE OLD=
Month Posted: September
Number of Employees Affected: 50
Reference Code or Identifier: "41971" (appears in the Excel archive but context isn't fully detailed)
URLs to the WARN Notice Archives
PDF Version (2025 WARN Notices):
https://www.nj.gov/labor/assets/PDFs/WARN/2025_WARN_Notice_Archive.pdf
Excel Version (WARN Notice Archive):
https://www.nj.gov/labor/assets/PDFs/WARN/WARN_Notice_Archive.xlsx