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

Washington Post Editorial Board: Moderna’s chilling announcement is a symptom of a deeper sickness

Incubate Survey: 74% of investors say IRA’s pill penalty diverts resources away from small molecule drug development.

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
January 29, 2026

Gilead Sciences - Oceanside

Layoffs

Oceanside, CA
10,001-50,000 employees

Gilead is letting go of 34 employees at its Oceanside, California, site.

Disease Area: Antiviral, Chronic Disease, Multiple, Oncology
Drug Type: Biologic, Small Molecule
January 19, 2026

Takeda

Layoffs

Cambridge, MA
50,001+ employees

Takeda is laying off 243 employees across its U.S. operations, an effort that will heavily affect its neuroscience commercialization teams.The spokesperson told the media outlet the workforce reduction was part of a “strategic decision” to help the company navigate its upcoming loss of exclusivity for Trintellix, a major depressive disorder drug. That decision also includes “reprioritizing resources to prepare for multiple potential new medication launches in the U.S.”

Disease Area: Multiple
Drug Type: Biologic, Small Molecule
January 19, 2026

Vedanta Biosciences

Layoffs

Cambridge, MA
51-200 employees

Vedanta Biosciences “significantly” reduced its headcount to maintain progress and focus resources on a Phase III study of oral drug candidate VE303 for recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI).

Disease Area: Gastrointestinal
Drug Type: Biologic
January 14, 2026

EMD Serono

Layoffs

Boston, MA
1,001-5,000 employees

EMD Serono, the U.S. division of Merck KGaA, is parting ways with an undisclosed number of employees. The layoffs will affect research staff at the company’s offices in Durham, North Carolina.

Disease Area: Endocrinology, Immune Diseases, Neurological Diseases, Oncology
Drug Type: Small Molecule
January 12, 2026

InflaRx

Discontinued Research, Layoffs

Jena, Germany
51-200 employees

InflaRx is cutting approximately 30% of its employees in a bid to streamline its spending and pour more of its resources into its lead candidate. To accompany the layoffs, InflaRx will also pull money from its investigational antibody Gohibic, according to a press announcement Jan. 8.

Disease Area: Chronic Disease, Immune Diseases, Infectious Diseases
Drug Type: Biologic, Small Molecule
January 8, 2026

Tessera Therapeutics

Layoffs

Somerville, MA
201-500 employees

A month after announcing a partnership with Regeneron to advance its lead gene editor, Tessera Therapeutics has disclosed it will lay off 90 employees. Endpoints News first reported the cuts. Several employees told Endpoints the layoffs will affect about 35% of the workforce. The cuts follow a 17% reduction in 2025 and 13% downsizing in 2024.

Disease Area: Chronic Disease, Multiple, Rare Diseases, Respiratory Diseases
Drug Type: Biologic
January 3, 2026

GSK

Layoffs

San Francisco, CA
50,001+ employees

Up to 350 people across GSK’s U.S. and U.K. workforces could lose their jobs as the pharma reorients its investments with its priorities. The layoffs are expected to affect fewer than 70 individuals in the US, and fewer than 50 in the UK, according to Fierce.

Disease Area: Immune Diseases, Multiple, Oncology, Rare Diseases, Respiratory Diseases
Drug Type: Biologic, Small Molecule
December 19, 2025

Voyager Therapeutics

Layoffs

Lexington, MA
51-200 employees

Voyager let 30 employees go, according to reporting from Fierce Biotech.

Disease Area: Neurological Diseases
Drug Type: Biologic
December 18, 2025

Intercept Pharmaceuticals

Layoffs

Morristown, NJ
201-500 employees

Months after withdrawing its only commercial product, Ocaliva, from the market, Intercept Pharmaceuticals is letting go of 146 employees from its New Jersey campus, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act posting.

Disease Area: Gastrointestinal, Immune Diseases
Drug Type: Small Molecule
December 12, 2025

Geron Corporation

Layoffs

Foster City, CA
51-200 employees

In a bid to reinvigorate sales of its cancer therapy Rytelo, Geron is reducing its headcount by a third and said it will use the savings to strengthen its commercial strategy and execution for the drug. The company currently has about 260 employees, so the layoffs will affect about 87 people, according to a Thursday news release.

Disease Area: Hematology, Multiple, Oncology
Drug Type: Small Molecule
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