Pharma and Biotech Layoffs 2026 Watch

The biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors faced a challenging employment environment in 2025. After a multi-year wave of staffing cuts, early indicators from industry trackers and hiring surveys suggest layoffs may be slowing, but the pain for workers and competition for roles remains intense.

There were fewer layoffs in January 2026 compared with the same period in 2025. This signals that 2026 could be the year layoffs peak and begin to normalize, provided broader economic conditions and funding environments don’t worsen.

However, even as layoff numbers level off, competition for new roles remains fierce. Biopharma employment outlook surveys indicate that most professionals, both employed and unemployed, are actively searching for new positions in 2026.

Here is Xtalks’ pharma and biotech layoffs tracker for 2026.

PHARMA LAYOFFS 2026

GSK Layoffs 2026

February 2: GSK is planning R&D cuts that will impact up to 350 roles across the US and UK as part of a reorganization aimed at aligning scientific capabilities with strategic priorities. In the UK, fewer than 50 employees will be terminated, and fewer than 70 in the US. Compared to other large pharma companies last year that rolled out restructuring plans and cost-saving measures that led to some significant layoffs, the only major employee reduction GSK made last year was reducing its workforce by about 150 at a Massachusetts vaccine development and manufacturing facility that will now be entirely dedicated to R&D. Manufacturing will be transferred to the company’s Pennsylvania site. According to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filing, layoffs began in October and will continue into March this year.

Takeda Layoffs 2026

January 20: Takeda is extending its workforce restructuring efforts from the past several years with the announcement of another round of layoffs to begin the new year. The latest round of layoffs will impact 243 field-based commercial employees across 47 states and Washington, DC. A company spokesperson explained that the workforce reduction is part of a strategic shift tied to the upcoming US patent expiration for its antidepressant Trintellix (vortioxetine) in December this year. The cuts come as the Japanese drugmaker reorganizes its US neuroscience sales force to respond to expected generic competition and is simultaneously reallocating resources toward future product launches that could create roughly 400 new commercial field roles. Takeda says it is offering transition support and encouraging impacted staff to pursue other opportunities within the company. In October 2025, the company laid off 137 employees due to the shuttering of its cell therapy facility at its Massachusetts R&D site.

Merck KGaA’s EMD Serono Layoffs 2026

January 13: Merck KGaA’s North American healthcare business, EMD Serono, has terminated an undisclosed number of research employees at its Durham, North Carolina, site. The cuts follow the company’s $3.9 billion acquisition of SpringWorks Therapeutics last year and reflect efforts to streamline and integrate research operations post-deal, according to a spokesperson.

BIOTECH LAYOFFS 2026

Seres Therapeutics Layoffs 2026

February 12: Seres Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based live biotherapeutics biotech, has announced that it is cutting about 30% of its workforce. The move coincides with the company pausing further investment in its planned Phase II study of SER-155, a microbiome therapy for preventing bloodstream infections in allo-hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients. The company laid off 25% of its staff last year to fund the trial and submitted its final protocol to the FDA, but now says it will shift focus and resources toward high-value, earlier-stage inflammatory and immune disease programs (such as SER-603) while continuing to seek funding to potentially revive the SER-155 study. With cash runway expected through the third quarter of 2026, Seres aims to extend operations, pursue collaborations and advance its pipeline despite the restructuring.

Sonoma Biotherapeutics Layoffs 2026

January 13: Sonoma Biotherapeutics (SonomaBio), a biotech developing regulatory T cell (Treg) therapies, confirmed it is reducing its workforce across all levels and functions, including employees in South San Francisco, Seattle and remote roles. While the company did not disclose the number of affected staff, it told Fierce Pharma that the move is intended to “right-size” the organization and concentrate resources on its highest priorities, notably advancing its lead rheumatoid arthritis candidate through a Phase I clinical trial.

Lyra Therapeutics Layoffs 2026

January 12: In a corporate update, Lyra Therapeutics announced it is halting the development of its only clinical program, LYR-210, a long-acting implant candidate for chronic rhinosinusitis, and laying off all of its remaining staff, effectively winding down its product development operations. The Massachusetts-based biotech had pursued LYR-210 through Phase III trials, including a subgroup win in patients without nasal polyps, but agreed with the FDA that an additional late-stage study was needed before seeking approval. With a limited cash runway and no approved products, Lyra’s board concluded it was in shareholders’ best interests to suspend further investment, affecting all 28 remaining employees, with only the CEO and CFO staying on as consultants while the company explores strategic alternatives for the program.

InflaRx Layoffs 2026

January 8: German biotech InflaRx announced it is cutting about 30% of its workforce and significantly reducing spending on its COVID-19 antibody therapy Gohibic (vilobelimab) as part of a strategic restructuring to increase “capital efficiency and tightly focus the company.” InflaRx is looking to extend its financial runway and focus resources on its lead inflammation and immunology asset, izicopan, an oral C5a receptor inhibitor, targeting the complement system, in development for conditions like hidradenitis suppurativa and chronic spontaneous urticaria. It will also maintain the ability to supply Gohibic reactively while continuing a BARDA-funded acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) study. The company said the changes are aimed at streamlining operations, cutting costs and positioning izicopan as InflaRx’s core program moving forward.

Nido Biosciences Layoffs 2026: Company Closes its Doors

January 2: Massachusetts-based neurobiotech Nido Biosciences is shuttering its operations after its lead therapy, NIDO-361, failed to show meaningful benefit in a Phase II trial for spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (Kennedy’s disease), a rare neuromuscular disorder. The disappointing midstage results have led the company to cease development and shut its doors in early 2026, with only a small number of employees directly affected. The outcome is especially tough given the promise the program held for patients with this progressive condition and reflects how critical positive clinical data are for early-stage biotechs’ survival. Nido launched in 2020 with about $109 million in backing, including from Eli Lilly.

LIFE SCIENCES LAYOFFS 2026

Thermo Fisher Scientific Layoffs 2026

February 2: Thermo Fisher Scientific is beginning the year with a new round of job cuts that will affect 80 workers as a result of shutting down operations at a Franklin, Massachusetts, site. The site currently has about 200 employees. In a January WARN notice, which stated that the cuts would affect 103 workers, which Thermo later clarified would only be 80, Thermo outlined that the layoffs will commence on December 31, 2026, and run through to December 31, 2027. A company spokesperson told Fierce Pharma that operations at the Franklin, Massachusetts, site will wind down by the end of 2026. The facility is one of two in the city that was focused on the manufacturing of environmental and process monitoring solutions. Last year, Thermo let go of 300 employees across its viral vector manufacturing facilities in Cambridge and Plainville, Massachusetts.