Takeda announced on Mar. 30 that its ongoing reorganization is expected to impact approximately 634 employees in the United States, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice.
The development highlights the significant workforce changes underway at the Japan-based pharmaceutical company as it seeks to streamline corporate functions and prioritize resources. The number of affected staff may change as some pursue redeployment opportunities within Takeda’s global network.
According to the WARN notice, Takeda began notifying employees about the job cuts on March 25, coinciding with its announcement of a business transformation plan. The company specified that layoffs will include 247 employees in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with effective dates ranging from July 1, 2026 through Dec. 31, 2027. BioSpace has requested further details about layoff numbers by state.
In last week’s announcement, Takeda said its restructuring aims to save over $1.25 billion by fiscal year 2028 through “strategically prioritizing resources.” These savings are intended to support investments for upcoming product launches—such as oveporexton, usfertide and zasocitinib—and continued progress in late-stage drug development and technology initiatives.
On the same day as this workforce update, Takeda reported promising Phase 3 trial results for zasocitinib in adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. The company said more than half of patients treated with this oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor achieved clear or almost clear skin at week sixteen—a key measure of success—with statistically significant improvements in complete skin clearance. A new drug application submission for zasocitinib is planned for fiscal year 2026.
Takeda acquired zasocitinib from Nimbus Therapeutics for $4 billion at the end of 2022 as part of efforts to compete with other kinase inhibitors on the market. In December 2025, positive results were reported from Phase 3 LATITUDE studies showing around thirty percent of treated patients achieved completely clear skin compared with placebo and Amgen’s Otezla.
This round of layoffs follows previous reductions by Takeda over recent years: nearly fifteen hundred jobs were cut across U.S. and Austrian operations during 2024 and early-2025; another one hundred thirty-seven positions were eliminated in October; and two hundred forty-three additional U.S.-based layoffs occurred earlier this year.
