Global Biopharma Layoffs September 2026

Evonik Industries

Evonik Industries plans to eliminate approximately 3,200 positions worldwide between 2027 and 2029 as part of the second phase of its Evonik Tailor Made efficiency program. Around 2,150 of the affected positions are expected to be in Germany. The restructuring is intended to reduce structural costs while allowing the specialty-chemicals company to direct more resources toward selected growth markets and businesses.

The next phase of Tailor Made follows an earlier restructuring period that began in 2024 and is expected to reduce about 2,800 positions through 2026. For the 2027–2029 phase, Evonik plans to use measures including not filling vacant positions, early retirement programs and voluntary departures supported by severance packages. Detailed implementation plans are expected to be finalized by the end of 2026.

Alongside the workforce reduction, Evonik is reshaping its portfolio around businesses designated as either growth drivers or cash generators. The company is advancing the planned divestments of its C4 chemicals business, Oxeno GmbH, and its infrastructure business, Syneqt GmbH, while also reducing its presence at smaller sites. In Germany, the company plans to close its smaller operations in Hamburg and Bitterfeld in 2027 and consolidate selected production activities at larger facilities.

Evonik is also reorganizing its German production network and plans to assign clearer strategic roles to its six major German sites. Among the changes, precipitated-silica production in Rheinfelden and Düren is expected to be consolidated into a new large-scale facility in Marl, which is scheduled to begin operations at the end of 2028. The older plants are subsequently planned for closure by the end of 2029.

The restructuring is being paired with targeted investment in growth markets, particularly Asia and the Americas. Evonik aims to achieve a more balanced revenue mix across Europe, Asia and the Americas while focusing capital on areas with longer-term growth potential. Recent investments include an approximately €80 million biotechnology expansion in Slovakia and a new GMP manufacturing facility for lipid-based drug-delivery technologies in Vancouver, Canada.

The company is undertaking the transformation amid continued pressure across the global chemicals industry. Evonik reported €14.1 billion in sales and €1.9 billion in adjusted EBITDA in 2025, with approximately 31,000 employees worldwide. The company said the latest restructuring is intended not only to lower costs but also to simplify its operating model, sharpen its portfolio and improve the allocation of capital toward businesses and markets with stronger long-term prospects.

Novo

Novo has reduced its global workforce by approximately 13,000 employees over the past year as the Danish drugmaker reorganizes its operations and seeks to direct more resources toward research and development. CEO Mike Maziar Doustdar disclosed the figure on Sept. 21, while a company spokesperson confirmed that Novo now employs about 67,000 people.

The reduction includes roughly 9,000 positions that Novo announced it would eliminate in September 2025 as part of a restructuring designed to deliver approximately $1.25 billion in annualized savings by 2026. During the company's Capital Markets Day on Sept. 21, Doustdar disclosed that the workforce had declined by another 4,000 employees over the past year.

However, Novo clarified that the additional 4,000 departures should not be viewed as a new round of 4,000 layoffs. The change in headcount reflects a combination of normal attrition, retirements, voluntary departures, decisions not to refill vacant positions, changes in hiring and other organizational adjustments. The company did not disclose how many of the 4,000 departures resulted from involuntary job cuts.

Bristol Myers Squibb

Bristol Myers Squibb is planning another workforce reduction in New Jersey, with 265 employees at its Princeton site set to lose their jobs. According to a state WARN notice, the layoffs are scheduled to take place in stages from Dec. 17 through May 21, 2027.

The cuts come as BMS continues a multiyear cost-reduction program that was initially announced in 2024. In February 2025, the company expanded its savings target by an additional $2 billion through 2027 as it works to reduce expenses and improve the efficiency of its operations.

New Jersey has been a significant focus of the restructuring. In April, BMS disclosed plans to eliminate more than 200 positions at its Lawrenceville facility. That followed a workforce reduction of more than 1,000 employees at the same site during 2025, underscoring the continued impact of the company's cost-cutting efforts across its New Jersey operations.

Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is eliminating another 87 positions at its headquarters in New Brunswick, New Jersey, with the layoffs scheduled to take effect Dec. 18. The latest cuts add to a broader reduction in the company's New Jersey workforce this year.

In May, J&J disclosed plans to eliminate 56 positions across New Jersey, primarily in New Brunswick along with roles in Raritan, Somerville and Titusville. Those layoffs were completed Aug. 21. Combined, the two rounds have affected 143 employees. The latest reductions span technology, engineering and compliance functions and include a vice president-level position overseeing procurement for the medtech business.

The company said the restructuring is part of its ongoing efforts to manage costs and improve operating efficiency while supporting long-term growth. J&J is also addressing costs associated with the planned separation of its Orthopedics business as it works to improve margins and preserve resources for continued investment in innovation.

J&J announced in October 2025 that it intended to spin off its Orthopedics unit from its medtech operations, with the transition expected to take approximately 18 to 24 months. The business, which includes DePuy Synthes, is expected to become an independent company in 2027 and generated approximately $9.2 billion in sales in 2024.

GSK

GSK plans to consolidate its vaccine manufacturing operations at a single site, resulting in the closure of its Dresden, Germany, campus and the elimination of approximately 650 jobs. The company will retain its vaccine manufacturing facility in Canada as part of the restructuring.

A GSK spokesperson confirmed that the decision follows a review of the company's vaccine manufacturing network. The pharma said it expects the remaining Canadian operation to be sufficient to meet anticipated future demand while maintaining a sustainable and competitive manufacturing footprint.

The site closure is part of GSK's broader $2.5 billion cost-reduction program announced in July. The three-year initiative is intended to simplify the organization and redirect capital and other resources toward the company's late-stage pipeline, while also reducing costs across its global operations.

Sionna Therapeutics

Sionna Therapeutics is cutting 46% of its workforce as part of a restructuring designed to concentrate resources on its cystic fibrosis combination program and extend its cash runway. The Massachusetts-based biotech is narrowing its development efforts following a clinical setback and plans to retain employees supporting its lead combination program.

As part of the reorganization, Chief Business Officer Caroline Stark Beer is leaving the company, effective Sept. 15. Other members of the leadership team are taking on additional responsibilities without changes to their compensation. Chief Medical Officer Charlotte McKee, for example, will also serve as head of research and development.

The restructuring will prioritize the advancement of SION-451 and SION-2222, a dual-combination regimen that the company plans to take into a Phase 2a proof-of-concept study. The move follows the failure of the Phase 2a trial evaluating SION-719 as an add-on to standard cystic fibrosis treatment. The dual-combination program is now Sionna's sole active development program.

Sionna's financial position also contributed to the decision to reduce spending. As of June 30, the company reported an accumulated deficit of $313 million, largely reflecting substantial R&D and manufacturing expenditures. It held $268.3 million in cash and expects its available capital to fund operations into 2028.

Merck

Merck is eliminating another 53 positions at its Rahway, New Jersey, site, according to a state WARN notice. The latest workforce reduction is scheduled to take effect in two rounds, on Dec. 11, 2026, and Jan. 4, 2027.

The Rahway facility has faced multiple rounds of layoffs over the past year. In June, Merck announced plans to eliminate 88 positions at the site, with those cuts taking effect in early September. The company had also disclosed in August 2025 that 58 Rahway employees would be laid off, with those reductions becoming effective in November of that year.

The latest cuts come as Merck continues a global $3 billion cost-reduction initiative expected to run through 2027. The broader restructuring could ultimately affect around 6,000 jobs as the pharma seeks to shift resources away from slower-growing areas and direct more investment toward a pipeline containing more than 20 potential product launches.

TScan Therapeutics

TScan Therapeutics is undertaking a major strategic reorganization that will put greater emphasis on its in vivo solid tumor program while pausing development efforts in hematologic malignancies. The restructuring will eliminate approximately 75% of the company's workforce. Based on TScan's 138 employees as of Aug. 7, the cuts could affect roughly 104 positions.

The Waltham, Massachusetts-based biotech is also reducing its leadership team as part of the overhaul. Chief Financial Officer Jason Amello and Chief Medical Officer Chrystal Louis departed effective Sept. 2. The latest reduction follows a 30% workforce cut announced in November 2025, when 66 employees were let go as TScan streamlined its pipeline and sought to extend its cash runway into the second half of 2027.

TScan, which develops TCR-engineered T cell therapies for cancer, plans to seek external partnerships for its hematologic malignancy and autoimmune programs rather than continue advancing them internally. The company will also eliminate its internal manufacturing organization and substantially scale back its research operations as it concentrates resources on in vivo cell therapy for solid tumors.

Novartis

Novartis expects to cut approximately 130 jobs in Switzerland as it plans to discontinue small-volume biologics production at its Kleinbasel site by the end of 2027. The move is part of a broader reorganization of the company's Swiss biologics operations and was announced by the pharma in early September.

The changes are linked to plans to transfer laboratory activities supporting biological cell banks, analytical testing and technical development from Kleinbasel to Basel by the end of 2028. Small-scale biologics manufacturing at Kleinbasel will subsequently be phased out, with production needs supported by other biologics facilities across Novartis' global manufacturing network.

The laboratory relocation forms part of an earlier initiative to establish a new biologics technical development center at Novartis' Basel campus, complementing the company's existing biologics research center. The latest workforce reduction adds to a series of job cuts announced by Novartis in 2026.

Most of the previously disclosed reductions have involved the company's East Hanover, New Jersey, operations, where 572 positions have been eliminated. Novartis has also announced plans to close its production facility in Wehr, Germany, affecting about 220 jobs, while separately confirming a "select number" of layoffs within its biomedical research organization. Including the latest Swiss cuts, the company has disclosed potential reductions affecting at least 922 positions this year.

Arsenal Biosciences

Arsenal Biosciences is undergoing a major strategic realignment that will concentrate the company's resources on developing in vivo CAR T therapies. The shift is accompanied by a substantial workforce reduction affecting the majority of the company.

A total of 99 employees will be laid off from ArsenalBio's South San Francisco headquarters and Hayward, California, sites, a company spokesperson confirmed. The affected positions span teams and functions across the organization. ArsenalBio had 127 employees as of September 2025, following a 50% workforce reduction, but the company did not disclose how many employees will remain after the latest cuts.

Under the new strategy, announced Aug. 31, ArsenalBio will retain a smaller core team dedicated to advancing its in vivo CAR T programs. The remaining employees will also evaluate strategic options for the company's existing assets and technologies as ArsenalBio narrows its focus and reshapes its operations.

Cellares

Cellares is carrying out another round of layoffs following the termination of its partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb, this time eliminating 68 positions at its Bridgewater, New Jersey facility. According to a state WARN notice, the cuts are scheduled to take effect on Nov. 19.

The latest reduction comes shortly after Cellares disclosed plans to lay off 100 employees at its headquarters in South San Francisco. Those positions are scheduled to be eliminated on Oct. 20, bringing the total number of publicly disclosed job cuts across the company to 168 in recent weeks.

The workforce reductions follow BMS' decision to end its partnership with Cellares after determining that the company's cell therapy manufacturing system did not meet the requirements for producing commercial batches of Breyanzi, a CAR-T cell therapy. Cellares has disputed that assessment, saying it "strongly disagrees" with BMS' characterization of its manufacturing platform.