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Capricor Therapeutics has reduced its workforce by approximately 10% as it awaits a pivotal regulatory decision on deramiocel, its cell therapy candidate for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The company disclosed the reduction in its third-quarter earnings report on Nov. 10, describing the move as an effort to “align our organization with our near-term priorities.”
The biotech reported 231 full-time employees as of Dec. 31, 2025. Applying the announced reduction to that workforce figure suggests that approximately 23 positions may have been eliminated.
Atara Biotherapeutics eliminated approximately 23% of its workforce in June, leaving the Thousand Oaks, California-based company with about 10 employees as it continues efforts to secure FDA approval for its cell therapy Ebvallo, also known as tabelecleucel. The reductions were disclosed in the biotech’s recent financial filings.
The workforce cuts come amid another attempt to win U.S. approval for Ebvallo, developed with Pierre Fabre Pharmaceuticals to treat a complication associated with organ transplantation. The partners submitted a new application in late September after two previous FDA rejections. The agency has accepted the resubmission and set March 31, 2027, as its target action date.
The first rejection followed inspection findings involving a third-party manufacturing facility, according to Atara’s January 2025 announcement. The FDA subsequently rejected the application again, questioning whether data from the single-arm, pivotal Phase 3 ALLELE trial were sufficient to support approval. Atara said the agency had previously indicated that the study design was considered adequate.
Atara recorded approximately $800,000 in severance and related employee benefits associated with the June restructuring. Its cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaled $9.9 million at Sept. 30, unchanged from June 30. The company has cautioned that this funding is not expected to sustain operations through November 2027.
NextCure undertook a broad restructuring during the third quarter as it prepares for a proposed merger with Avere Therapeutics. The measures included staff reductions, the termination of facility leases and the disposal of all laboratory, manufacturing and facility-related assets, according to the company’s Nov. 10 quarterly financial update. NextCure has not disclosed how many employees were affected.
The Maryland-based biotech had 40 employees as of Dec. 31, 2025, according to an SEC filing. NextCure said the restructuring has substantially lowered its anticipated future operating cash requirements.
The reorganization precedes a shareholder vote scheduled for next month on the proposed combination with Avere. The transaction is intended to support development of AVR-001, Avere’s oral peptide antagonist of the IL-23 receptor. If shareholders approve the deal, the merged company is expected to operate under the Avere name.
Coherus Oncology plans to cut its workforce by 30% as part of a strategic reorganization that narrows the company’s clinical focus. The Redwood City, California-based biotech is scaling back development of its investigational combination therapy across multiple cancer types and concentrating resources on esophageal cancer.
The decision follows encouraging interim findings from a Phase 1b study of tagmokitug, a cytolytic CCR8 antibody, in combination with toripalimab. In patients with first-line esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, the regimen produced a confirmed overall response rate of 75%, regardless of PD-L1 status, according to data released last month.
Coherus has not specified the number of positions to be eliminated. Its latest filing reported 145 full- and part-time employees as of Sept. 30, suggesting that the 30% reduction could affect approximately 44 roles.
Gyre Therapeutics is reducing its workforce following its acquisition of Cullgen, although the company has not disclosed the number of employees affected. In its Nov. 6 third-quarter financial update, Gyre reported that personnel expenses rose by $3.6 million compared with the same period in 2025, attributing much of the increase to internal restructuring and severance costs associated with the acquisition.
Gyre declined to provide further details about the workforce changes or its broader organizational restructuring. The company completed its all-stock acquisition of Cullgen in May in a transaction valued at $300 million, subsequently incorporating the drug-discovery biotech as a wholly owned subsidiary.
Cullgen specializes in targeted protein degraders and degrader-antibody conjugate therapies. Before the deal, it had more than 120 employees, according to a presentation Gyre filed with the SEC. The combined organization had approximately 740 employees.
Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, is eliminating 78 positions, with the layoffs scheduled to take effect on Jan. 4, 2027. The San Diego-based endocrine disease specialist had 594 full-time employees as of Feb. 13, suggesting that the reductions could affect approximately 13% of its workforce.
According to a WARN Act notice obtained by BioSpace, most of the affected employees work in corporate and administrative functions, including finance, information technology, business development, corporate strategy, human resources, talent acquisition, marketing and communications. Positions in medical writing, regulatory operations and quality assurance are also included.
The notice indicates that many of the departing employees work remotely, with several residing outside California. The geographically distributed nature of the affected workforce means the reductions extend beyond Crinetics' San Diego headquarters.
The layoffs were disclosed approximately two months after Vertex completed its acquisition of Crinetics. Announced in July in a transaction valued at approximately $10 billion, the deal gave Vertex an entry into the endocrine disease market through Crinetics' drug portfolio. A key asset is Palsonify, an FDA-approved oral treatment for acromegaly, a rare hormonal disorder caused by excessive growth hormone production by the pituitary gland, which can affect bones, tissues and organs.
Agios Pharmaceuticals is reducing its research and development workforce by more than 35%, eliminating over 100 positions as part of a restructuring intended to place greater emphasis on commercial operations. CEO Brian Goff described the move during a Nov. 5 earnings call as an effort to right-size the company's operating model in preparation for its next stage of growth.
The revised strategy centers on maximizing the commercial potential of mitapivat, Agios' oral pyruvate kinase activator. The drug has received approval for two indications: pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiency, where it is marketed as Pyrukynd, and thalassemia, where it is sold under the brand name Aqvesme.
Agios expects to record approximately $11 million in restructuring charges during 2026. The company anticipates that the financial benefits of the workforce reductions will begin to materialize in 2027, as lower operating expenses contribute to its commercial-focused business model.
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biopharma reported 539 full-time employees across its organization as of December 2025. The latest cuts therefore represent a substantial adjustment to its R&D organization as Agios redirects resources toward expanding its mitapivat franchise and supporting its commercial growth priorities.
Voyager Therapeutics eliminated an undisclosed number of positions during the third quarter as part of its continuing efforts to reduce operating costs, align staffing with business priorities and extend its cash runway. The Lexington, Massachusetts-based gene therapy company disclosed the workforce reductions in its quarterly earnings report but did not specify how many employees or which departments were affected.
The restructuring resulted in approximately $1.4 million in charges during the quarter, primarily reflecting severance payments and other employee termination benefits. Voyager recorded these expenses across its research and development and general and administrative cost categories. A company spokesperson declined to provide further information about the scale of the layoffs.
The latest reductions follow another workforce cut in December 2025, when Voyager dismissed 30 employees after Novartis discontinued two discovery-stage programs under the companies' gene therapy collaboration. Their partnership continues to support programs targeting spinal muscular atrophy and Huntington's disease.
Voyager reported 141 full-time U.S. employees as of Dec. 31, 2025, including 112 working in research and development. The company has not disclosed its current headcount following the latest round of reductions.
C4 Therapeutics has made adjustments to its research workforce this year as it realigns resources with its development strategy, according to its third-quarter 2026 financial report. The Watertown, Massachusetts-based clinical-stage biotech, which is developing targeted protein degradation medicines for diseases including multiple myeloma, did not disclose the timing or number of employees affected.
A company spokesperson told BioSpace that, consistent with disclosures in its second-quarter report, C4 recorded lower personnel expenses compared with the prior year. The spokesperson characterized the changes as a small realignment of resources implemented at the beginning of 2026 to support the company's research priorities, while emphasizing that overall research headcount has remained consistent. No additional details were provided.
C4 Therapeutics had 104 full-time employees as of Dec. 31, 2025, according to its annual report. Of those, 69 were involved in research and development activities. The company has not provided an updated breakdown of its workforce following the reported adjustments.
Avidity Biosciences, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Novartis, is eliminating 40 positions at its San Diego operations, with the layoffs scheduled to begin on Dec. 31 and take place in stages. According to a WARN Act notice obtained by BioSpace, most affected employees work on-site, while seven remote workers will also be included in the reductions.
The job cuts span several functions, including clinical operations, clinical research, medical writing, regulatory affairs and regulatory operations. Avidity reported 511 employees as of Feb. 13, indicating that the planned reductions represent a relatively small portion of its overall workforce.
The layoffs were disclosed in a California WARN notice in late October, approximately eight months after Novartis completed its acquisition of Avidity. The San Diego biotech develops RNA-based therapeutics, and its acquisition added neuromuscular disease programs to Novartis' neuroscience pipeline.
Akebia Therapeutics eliminated approximately 7% of its workforce in July as part of a restructuring designed to improve operational efficiency and bring the company's cost structure into line with its current priorities. The Waltham, Massachusetts-based biotech disclosed the reduction in a Nov. 5 SEC filing but did not provide details about the positions or departments affected.
Akebia had 194 employees as of Dec. 31, 2025, suggesting that the cuts may have involved approximately 14 people and reduced its workforce to around 180. The company reported $1.3 million in restructuring-related expenses during the third quarter.
The disclosure accompanied Akebia's third-quarter financial results, which showed a net loss of $14.4 million. This represented a reversal from the profitability the company reported in the third quarter of 2025.
Despite the quarterly loss, Akebia reported $159.3 million in cash and cash equivalents, along with $0.9 million in restricted cash, as of Sept. 30. The workforce reduction forms part of the company's broader effort to streamline operations and allocate resources toward its current business objectives.
Ultragenyx is planning significant workforce and operating expense reductions as it shifts its business toward commercial execution and a more focused research and development organization. The rare disease biotech disclosed the restructuring alongside its third-quarter 2026 financial results on Nov. 3, saying the planned layoffs will affect approximately 20% of its workforce and leave the company with around 1,000 employees.
The organizational overhaul follows a mixed year for Ultragenyx. The company secured approval for its first two gene therapies, including a treatment for glycogen storage disease in August and another for Sanfilippo syndrome type A in September. However, its investigational Angelman syndrome therapy apazunersen failed to demonstrate cognitive benefits in a Phase 3 trial announced in September, missing key study endpoints and triggering a decline of more than 43% in the company's share price.
Through the workforce reductions and additional cost controls, Ultragenyx aims to bring research and development spending below $350 million in 2027 and selling, general and administrative expenses below $375 million. Other measures include completing the discontinuation of ongoing GTX-102 studies for Angelman syndrome, abandoning UX701, its investigational Wilson disease therapy, after the candidate failed to meet its study objectives, and reducing the company's real estate footprint.
With a leaner operating structure and a narrower development portfolio, Ultragenyx plans to concentrate its commercial efforts on launching Genglycos for glycogen storage disease and Fayuvi for Sanfilippo syndrome. The restructuring reflects a strategic pivot toward supporting these newly approved products while limiting investment in programs that no longer align with the company's revised priorities.
Vistagen Therapeutics has completed another round of workforce reductions, eliminating approximately 31% of its remaining employees just seven months after cutting roughly 20% of its staff. The latest layoffs were finalized on Oct. 26 and are intended to lower operating expenses, conserve cash and bring the company's organizational structure in line with its late-stage clinical development priorities, according to an SEC filing.
The South San Francisco, California-based biotech reported 41 full-time employees as of June 30, suggesting that approximately 13 positions may have been eliminated in the latest round. Vistagen said it retained the core clinical, regulatory, technical and corporate personnel required to support U.S. registration-directed Phase 3 development of fasedienol, its lead candidate for social anxiety disorder.
The restructuring follows a setback for fasedienol in August, when the company reported that the nasal spray did not demonstrate a statistically significant advantage over placebo in a small Phase 2 study evaluating repeat-dose treatment. Despite the disappointing result, Vistagen is maintaining the capabilities needed to advance the candidate through its planned late-stage development program.
The remaining workforce may also support potential future development of two other Phase 2 candidates: itruvone for major depressive disorder and refisolone for menopausal hot flashes. Vistagen estimates that the layoffs will generate approximately $1 million in severance and termination expenses while reducing annual salary and benefit costs by about $3.2 million.
The company reported $31.7 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of June 30, compared with $45.4 million at the end of March. The latest cost-cutting measures are intended to preserve financial resources as Vistagen concentrates its remaining operations on its prioritized clinical programs.
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