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 to kick off the year before picking up momentum.

There were fewer layoffs in January 2026 compared with the same period in 2025. However, with technologies like AI attempting to rapidly reshape workflows and geopolitical instability triggering global economic uncertainties and price increases across sectors, pharma and biotech companies are accelerating efforts to cut operating costs and restructure.

Even as layoffs are on the rise, competition for 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

Takeda Layoffs 2026

March 25: Layoffs at Takeda continue as part of the company’s restructuring efforts. At the end of March, Takeda announced plans to cut 634 jobs in the US. The restructuring is part of the company’s goals to save more than $1.2 billion annually. According to a WARN filing, 247 roles will be cut in the Bay state and 387 in other states. On the same day as the WARN notice, Takeda announced a transformation plan aimed to generate about $1.26 billion to $1.3 billion in annual savings by 2028, while incurring roughly $940 million to $945 million in restructuring costs in 2026 to streamline operations and support future growth. The layoffs follow earlier 2026 cuts to the company’s commercial workforce tied to the anticipated loss of exclusivity for its antidepressant Trintellix (vortioxetine).

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.

Amgen Layoffs 2026

March 11: Amgen disclosed plans to lay off 22 employees from its Horizon Therapeutics unit, with the cuts expected to take effect by early May, according to a Maryland WARN notice. The layoffs are tied to post-acquisition integration efforts following Amgen’s $27.8 billion purchase of Horizon in 2023, reflecting ongoing restructuring as the company says it streamlines operations and consolidates resources.

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.

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

IO Biotech Layoffs and Bankruptcy

March 31: Denmark-based biopharmaceutical company IO Biotech has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and is winding down operations as of March 31, 2026. The liquidation follows a critical setback in September 2025 when its lead cancer vaccine, Cylembio (IO102-IO103), failed to demonstrate statistical superiority over Keytruda in a Phase III melanoma trial, leading the FDA to advise against a filing for approval. The company’s search for strategic alternatives proved unsuccessful, resulting in the termination of all staff and the resignation of its board. Consequently, a court-appointed trustee will now liquidate the company’s remaining assets to satisfy creditors.

Lipella Pharmaceuticals Layoffs and Bankruptcy

March 30: Lipella Pharmaceuticals has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after its Nasdaq listing was rescinded and cash reserves dwindled. The filing brings an end to the Pittsburgh-based company’s years‑long effort to develop a liposomal treatment for inflammatory mouth conditions, including oral lichen planus (OLP), a chronic inflammatory condition affecting the oral mucosa. Under the bankruptcy filing in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the company plans to pursue an asset sale to “maximize value for creditors,” though it expects to continue some day‑to‑day operations during the restructuring process.

Iterum Therapeutics Layoffs and Shutdown

March 27: Iterum Therapeutics has begun winding down its operations, citing limited cash reserves and the high costs associated with commercializing its only approved product, UTI antibiotic Orlynvah (sulopenem etzadroxil and probenecid). The move effectively results in workforce reductions as the company scales back. In a company announcement on March 27, the Dublin, Ireland-based company filed a petition in Ireland’s High Court to wind up the company and entered provisional liquidation, with a court hearing scheduled for April 13. The move follows severe financial challenges, including limited cash reserves, inability to raise new funding and ongoing commercialization costs, with appointed liquidators set to oversee an orderly wind-down and potential dissolution.

Gossamer Bio Layoffs

March 17: Gossamer Bio is laying off 77 employees, about 48% of its staff, following disappointing late-stage trial results for its pulmonary arterial hypertension drug, seralutinib. The layoffs are part of a broader effort to conserve cash and reassess regulatory strategy. Reporting from BioSpace and SFGate noted that the company’s stock dropped sharply by 78% after the failed study. Update April 2, 2026: Gossamer has been hit with multiple securities class‑action lawsuits and investor investigations following the February 23, 2026 announcement that its Phase III PROSERA trial of seralutinib missed the primary endpoint. Law firms including Levi & Korsinsky, Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, Gainey McKenna & Egleston and the Schall Law Firm allege that the company made false or misleading statements about the PROSERA study’s design and results and failed to disclose adverse information, and they are seeking damages on behalf of shareholders who purchased Gossamer securities between June 16, 2025 and February 20, 2026, with lead plaintiff deadlines in early June 2026.

Bicycle Therapeutics Layoffs

March 17: Bicycle Therapeutics announced plans to lay off approximately 30% of its workforce (around 80 to 90 employees) as part of a strategic reprioritization aimed at cutting operating costs by roughly 50% and extending its cash runway into 2030. The cuts follow regulatory setbacks for its lead cancer drug candidate zelenectide pevedotin, prompting the company to halt multiple clinical trials and shift focus toward other pipeline assets, including BT5528 and radioconjugates.

Evotec Layoffs

March 10: Evotec announced plans to cut up to 800 jobs (around one-sixth of its workforce) as part of a sweeping restructuring program under its new strategic roadmap. The overhaul includes closing multiple global sites and consolidating operations, with a sharper focus on core drug discovery and higher-margin partnerships. The company said it will further streamline its global footprint to 10 sites, after cutting its original site number of 19 to 14 between 2024 and 2025, to “simplify organizational structures and improve cost base.” When all is said and done, sites in Framingham, Massachusetts; Lyon, France; and Abingdon, UK, among others, will be shut down.

Vistagen Layoffs

March 12: In a SEC filing, Vistagen revealed that its board had approved plans to reduce its workforce by about 20%. Vistagen said the layoffs are intended to provide “disciplined cash management” while prioritizing testing of its lead drug, a kind of nasal spray it’s developing for social anxiety disorder. The company will report Phase III results in the first half of 2026 and expects to have enough cash to operate into 2027. Vistagen had 59 full-time employees as of Dec 31.

Theravance Biopharma Layoffs

March 3: Theravance announced it is cutting its workforce by 50% while and the discontinuation of all internal R&D after a Phase III failure of its lead blood pressure candidate. The company said it will instead, “align its resources with its commercial focus” on approved COPD therapy Yupelri (revefenacin). The Dublin- and San Francisco-based biotech had been testing blood pressure disorder drug ampreloxetine in patients with symptomatic neurogenic orthostatic hypotension (nOH), which is a chronic drop in blood pressure caused by insufficient norepinephrine release. The late-stage trial included 102 participants with the condition. Following the dismal outcomes, the company announced that it is completely terminating the ampreloxetine program, including all R&D for the selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (NRI).

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.