Research Programs Discontinued
0
Drugs Discontinued
0
since passage of the Inflation Reduction Act
News Updates

Endpoints News: Biotech industry goes six months without an IPO

Leerink Partners report shows no evidence of market failures that block generic competition

National Pharmaceutical Council: Share of drugs with one orphan designation that later received a second designation decreased 48% post-IRA

ITIF: The IRA is negotiating the United States out of drug innovation

Stifel report: Rare disease companies saw $1B loss in value from 2020-2022, with further losses through Feb. 2025

CNBC Video ▶️: Novartis CEO says companies are deprioritizing small molecule medicines for the elderly due to IRA

Vital Transformation analysis: Small molecule funding dropped 70% since introduction of the IRA

Policy & Medicine: The Inflation Reduction Act and its broader impact on innovation, access, and affordability in healthcare

STAT: The IRA will chill rare disease innovation, experts warn. Can lawmakers reignite that spark?

MedPage Today: Experts debate whether IRA provisions stifle pharma innovation at Senate hearing

WSJ Editorial Board: Drug price controls mean fewer cures, IRA causing R&D spending cuts for new medicines

Wall Street Journal: Big Pharma cuts R&D, sending shudders through industry

Novartis CEO on IRA: Companies are managing… by shifting away from small-molecule medicines for other therapies and neurological diseases.

Bloomberg Law: U.S. drug negotiations plan shifts focus for rare disease programs

InsideHealthPolicy: Researchers say IRA may disrupt development of non-opioid pain meds

State Street Global Advisors point to small molecule penalty in latest investment note

Fitch Ratings: Medicare drug price negotiation program expected to deter investments into small molecule drugs

Axios: Drugmakers, investors say they’ve already changed bets in IRA’s first year

GlobalData Market Analysis: Biologics receive $7.6 billion more venture financing than small molecule drugs

Incubate’s Investment Tracker measures the impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act’s healthcare provisions on the life sciences ecosystem, with special attention to the impacts of the small molecule penalty.

Date
Date
Disease Area
Drug Type
Announcement Type
Company Size
August 8, 2025

Poseida Therapeutics

Layoffs

San Diego, CA
201-500 employees

Poseida Therapeutics is letting go of 52 employees from its San Diego location, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice. The layoffs will take effect Oct. 1. It is unclear if the workforce reduction is in connection with the Roche acquisition.

Disease Area: Hematology, Multiple, Oncology, Rare Diseases
Drug Type: Biologic
August 8, 2025

Precision BioSciences

Layoffs

Durham, NC
51-200 employees

Delaware-based Precision BioSciences has terminated an undisclosed number of employees in order to extend its cash runway into the second half of 2027.

Disease Area: Chronic Disease, Hematology, Infectious Diseases, Multiple, Neurological Diseases, Rare Diseases
Drug Type: Biologic
August 8, 2025

Iovance Biotherapeutics

Layoffs

San Carlos, CA
501-1,000 employees

Months after lowering its full-year guidance, Iovance Biotherapeutics has slashed its headcount by fewer than 20%, according to an Aug. 6 report from Endpoints News, which confirmed the layoffs with a company spokesperson. “This restructuring will extend our cash runway,” the spokesperson told Endpoints, adding that the layoffs will “support [its] mission to innovate, develop and deliver” its pipeline of tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte cell therapies for patients who need them.

Disease Area: Oncology
Drug Type: Biologic
August 7, 2025

Bayer

Layoffs

Whippany, NJ
50,001+ employees

Workforce cuts continue at Bayer, with CEO Bill Anderson announcing on the company’s second-quarter earnings call on Aug. 6 that it expects more layoffs to come. These would follow the 2,000 employees it said it was letting go during first-quarter earnings and around 11,000 total since Bayer initiated a sweeping reorganization initiative in July 2023.

Disease Area: Cardiology, Hematology, Multiple, Oncology
Drug Type: Biologic, Small Molecule
August 7, 2025

BioNTech

Layoffs

Gaithersburg, MD
5,001-10,000 employees

BioNTech is laying off 90 employees across its U.S. footprint as the company plots its future in a post-COVID market.

Disease Area: Immune Diseases
Drug Type: Biologic, Small Molecule
August 4, 2025

Merck

Layoffs

Rahway, NJ
10,001-50,000 employees

Merck projected it could let go of about 6,000 employees as part of a multiyear process, affecting around 8% of its global workforce, as part of its recently announced cost-cutting initiative.

Disease Area: Antiviral, Cardiology, Immune Diseases, Multiple, Neurological Diseases, Oncology
Drug Type: Biologic, Small Molecule
August 1, 2025

Moderna

Layoffs

Cambridge, MA
1,001-5,000 employees

Moderna is downsizing its workforce by 10% globally to bring headcount to under 5,000 in “a difficult moment for the company,” CEO Stéphane Bancel told employees in a note July 31.

Disease Area: Antiviral, Immune Diseases, Multiple, Oncology, Rare Diseases
Drug Type: Biologic
July 30, 2025

Merck

Layoffs

Rahway, NJ
10,001-50,000 employees

During the company’s second quarter earnings report, Merck CEO Rob Davis said that the company was undergoing a $3 billion cut in spending, spread across administrative, sales and research and development roles. The savings amount to about $1.7 billion annually, hoping to hit the $3 billion mark by 2027.

Disease Area: Antiviral, Cardiology, Immune Diseases, Multiple, Neurological Diseases, Oncology
Drug Type: Biologic, Small Molecule
July 30, 2025

Biogen

Negative Outlook

Cambridge, MA
5,001-10,000 employees

Drug prices are under significant scrutiny in the markets in which our products are prescribed; for example the IRA has certain provisions related to drug pricing, including the ability for the U.S. government to set prices for certain drugs in Medicare. We expect drug pricing and other health care costs will continue to be subject to political and societal pressures on a global basis. Additionally, our ability to set the price for our products varies significantly from country to country and, as a result, so can the price or reimbursement of our products. Governments may use a variety of cost-containment measures to control the cost of products, including price cuts, mandatory rebates, value-based pricing and reference pricing (i.e., referencing prices in other countries and using those reference prices to set a price). Our failure to obtain or maintain adequate coverage, pricing or reimbursement for our products could have an adverse effect on our business, reputation, revenue and results of operations, could curtail or eliminate our ability to adequately fund research and development programs for the discovery and commercialization of new products and/or could cause a decline or volatility in our stock price.

Disease Area: Immune Diseases, Multiple, Neurological Diseases
Drug Type: Biologic, Small Molecule
July 30, 2025

Bristol Myers Squibb - Princeton

Negative Outlook

Princeton, NJ
10,001-50,000 employees

We continue to evaluate the impact of the IRA on our results of operations, and it is possible that these changes may result in a material impact on our business and results of operations.

Disease Area: Rare Diseases
Drug Type: Biologic, Small Molecule
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