Biotech and pharmaceutical companies cut or planned to cut 6,956 employees in May, representing a 47% increase year over year and nearly double the previous monthly high of 3,713 recorded in February, according to BioSpace tallies. Most of these layoffs occurred during the first two weeks of May when BioNTech and Takeda announced plans affecting a combined total of 6,360 employees.
BioNTech stated on May 5 that it will close several manufacturing facilities by the end of 2027, impacting approximately 1,860 jobs. The closures include a Singapore site whose layoff details were previously reported in April. On May 13, Takeda revealed plans to streamline corporate operations by cutting around 4,500 employees during fiscal year 2026. This figure includes an estimated 247 roles in Massachusetts and another 387 across other states, as detailed in a March Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice.
Other companies announcing or projecting workforce reductions included AbbVie, Amicus Therapeutics, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, and Valneva. At least 376 affected employees are expected to lose their positions this year; however, actual numbers could be higher since BioNTech and Takeda did not specify how many terminations would occur within the current calendar year.
Four out of seven biopharma firms reporting cuts last month were making their first known layoffs this year. AbbVie is set to let go of 85 workers in Irvine, California, effective July 20; Amicus Therapeutics will reduce its Princeton headquarters staff by 58 between August and October; Johnson & Johnson will lay off 56 people in New Brunswick on August 21; Valneva announced plans on May 13 to reduce its workforce by between ten percent and fifteen percent—an estimated impact on up to one hundred one positions.
Novartis carried out multiple rounds of layoffs throughout May totaling at least two hundred ninety-six job losses. Early in the month it announced closure plans for its Wehr production plant in Germany by the end of 2028—eliminating two hundred twenty jobs—and later confirmed additional reductions within its biomedical research organization without specifying numbers or locations. In East Hanover, New Jersey, seventy-six more Novartis staff are set for termination effective August twenty-one.
Layoff figures exclude contract development organizations as well as medical device firms. Data compiled for known workforce reductions comes from company press releases as well as Worker Adjustment notices, SEC filings, media reports, or direct confirmation from company officials.
