Global Biopharma Layoffs October 2026

Caribou Biosciences

Caribou Biosciences is preparing to eliminate 87 positions at its Berkeley, California, headquarters, with the layoffs scheduled to take effect Dec. 7. Based on the company's reported headcount of 97 employees as of Feb. 27, the reduction could affect approximately 90% of its workforce.

The latest cuts follow Caribou's Oct. 6 announcement that it would discontinue development of its clinical-stage pipeline and seek strategic alternatives amid limited financing opportunities for allogeneic CAR T-cell therapies. Potential options include a merger, acquisition, business combination or another transaction involving the company or its assets. Caribou has described the workforce reduction as substantial, although the California WARN notice now provides a specific figure for the planned layoffs.

The company's latest restructuring follows another significant workforce reduction in April 2025, when Caribou disclosed plans to eliminate 47 employees, representing approximately 32% of its staff, and discontinue its lupus program. After that earlier pipeline shift, the biotech focused on two allogeneic, or "off-the-shelf," CAR T-cell candidates targeting several types of cancer.

The planned elimination of 87 positions marks a further contraction as Caribou winds down its clinical-stage development activities and evaluates potential paths forward for its remaining assets. The company has not yet disclosed the outcome of its strategic review.

Caribou Biosciences

Caribou Biosciences is discontinuing its entire clinical-stage pipeline and planning substantial workforce reductions as the company struggles to secure funding for its allogeneic CAR T-cell therapy programs. The biotech, co-founded by Nobel Prize-winning CRISPR researcher Jennifer Doudna, said the decision follows a strategic review amid increasingly difficult financing conditions for the sector.

CEO Rachel Haurwitz said the current funding environment for allogeneic CAR T therapies has made it impossible to raise the capital needed to advance the programs responsibly. As a result, Caribou is exploring strategic alternatives, which could include a merger, acquisition, business combination or other transactions involving the company or its assets.

The strategic review will be accompanied by a substantial reduction in headcount, although Caribou has not disclosed the number of positions to be eliminated. The company reported 97 full-time employees as of Feb. 27, 2026, according to its annual SEC filing.

Caribou expects to incur approximately $15 million to $19 million in restructuring expenses as it winds down its clinical-stage programs and evaluates potential paths forward. The decision underscores the financial challenges facing developers of allogeneic cell therapies as companies seek funding to sustain costly clinical development.

Adecto Pharmaceuticals & Aviceda Therapeutics

Adecto Pharmaceuticals and Aviceda Therapeutics are both winding down operations, bringing development programs at the two biotech companies to an end. Adecto, a Boston-based company developing therapies for cancers that do not respond to conventional immunotherapy, officially ceased operations on Sept. 30, according to its website.

Adecto CEO Nora Minerva confirmed the closure in a LinkedIn post last week, expressing hope that the company's work could continue in some form despite the shutdown. The biotech had been focused on developing treatments for patients whose cancers have limited response to existing immunotherapy approaches.

Aviceda Therapeutics is also reportedly shutting down after a setback in its retinal disease program. The company had been preparing to advance an ophthalmology candidate into a Phase 3 trial, but an asset targeting geographic atrophy failed to meet its primary endpoint in a Phase 2b study. A source familiar with the decision said the company is now winding down, while an employee reportedly attributed the closure to the clinical trial results.

The companies have not disclosed how many employees are affected by the closures. Based on their LinkedIn profiles, Adecto had an estimated two to 10 employees, while Aviceda was listed as having between 51 and 200 employees.

Foghorn Therapeutics

Foghorn Therapeutics is cutting approximately 40% of its workforce after ending its oncology collaboration with Eli Lilly and narrowing its development priorities. The Watertown, Massachusetts-based biotech expects the majority of the layoffs to be completed during the current quarter, leaving the company with approximately 65 full-time employees.

The restructuring follows a review of clinical data from a Phase 1 dose-escalation study of FHD-909, also known as LY4050784. Foghorn and Lilly have decided not to move the small-molecule cancer candidate into the expansion stage of clinical development.

The companies are also discontinuing work on a selective SMARCA2 degrader program and do not expect to pursue additional collaboration activities. Foghorn, which has programs spanning oncology as well as immunology and inflammation, is consequently reducing its pipeline and workforce to focus resources on its remaining development opportunities.