News Updates
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.
Replimune Group, Inc.
Neutral Outlook
Woburn, MA
201-500 employees
We cannot be sure whether additional legislation related to the IRA will be issued or enacted, or what impact, if any, such changes will have on the profitability of any of our drug candidates, if approved for commercial use, in the future. There also may be future changes unrelated to the IRA that result in reductions in potential coverage and reimbursement levels for our product candidates, if approved and commercialized, and we cannot predict the scope of any future changes or the impact that those changes would have on our operations.
Tourmaline Bio
New York, NY
11-50 employees
Tourmaline Bio said goodbye to 60 employees at its New York headquarters months after being swallowed by Novartis.
The workforce reduction stems from the closure of a Tourmaline site at 27 West 24th in New York, according to a Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) alert for the state. The layoffs took effect May 29, though the notice was only posted last week.
Novartis moved to acquire Tourmaline in September last year, putting around $1.4 billion on the line on a fully diluted basis, the pharma said at the time. The transaction closed in late October.
Novartis has conducted several rounds of layoffs this year, including one that takes effect in August and will leave 76 New Jersey workers jobless. The pharma also announced in May that it would shutter a Germany facility by the end of 2028, which will affect 220 jobs. Novartis ran two other cycles of terminations—one in March and another in April—which together affected more than 170 staff in New Jersey.
Genentech
South San Francisco, CA
10,000+ employees
Genentech has made changes to its research and early development group (gRED) that include parting ways with a high-profile executive who had been with the company since 1997. The South San Franciso–based biotech confirmed to BioSpace the “targeted adjustments” and departure of Vishva Dixit, who most recently served as vice president and senior fellow, physiological chemistry, research biology.
The restructuring is intended to ensure the Roche subsidiary’s capabilities and investments align with its core therapeutic areas, advance its portfolio and deliver transformative medicines to patients faster, according to Genentech. A spokesperson declined to share specific information about the layoffs, including how many employees were affected.
Endpoints News reported that Genentech is closing infectious disease and physiological chemistry units while downsizing other teams. Also, in addition to Dixit, other key departures include Todd McDevitt, vice president and head of cell therapy, and Man-Wah Tan, a vice president and senior fellow of infectious diseases, the media outlet reported.
Pharvaris N.V.
Neutral Outlook
Zug, Switzerland
51-200 employees
For instance, recently, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, or IRA, which included several measures intended to lower the cost of prescription drugs and limit out-of-pocket spending, including by requiring drug manufacturers to pay rebates to Medicare if they increase prices faster than inflation for drugs used by Medicare beneficiaries.
Fulcrum Therapeutics
Cambridge, MA
51-200 employees
Just days after announcing it was exploring strategic alternatives for the business after ending development of its lead asset, Fulcrum Therapeutics is cutting 85% of its workforce, according to an SEC filing. The Cambridge, Massachusetts–based biotech will lay off 48 of its 57 employees as part of a restructuring plan approved May 31 meant to significantly reduce operating expenses and preserve capital. Fulcrum informed staff on June 4.
The company announced June 1 it is discontinuing development of pociredir in sickle cell disease, as it no longer sees a viable regulatory path for the drug. Fulcrum noted that the FDA had recently raised concerns regarding pociredir’s benefit-risk profile in that indication.
The biotech expects to mostly complete its layoffs during the second quarter. Fulcrum estimated it will incur about $4.2 million in costs in connection with its restructuring plan, consisting mostly of severance, benefits and related expenses.
Merck
Rahway, NJ
10,000+ employees
Merck is again sending employees packing in Rahway, New Jersey. The pharma is laying off 88 employees at its location there effective Sept. 4, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice. Last year, Merck disclosed it was letting go of 262 employees in Rahway over two rounds of cuts, one of which took effect this year.
In August 2025, the pharma divulged it was laying off 58 people at that site on Nov. 14. The news came shortly after Merck confirmed that its $3 billion cost-cutting move could affect about 6,000 employees as part of a multiyear process. In November, the pharma disclosed it would let go of 204 staffers in Rahway from Feb. 20 through May 11.
In February 2026, Merck then disclosed in a WARN notice that it would lay off 154 employees in Durham, North Carolina, on May 1.
Johnson & Johnson
New Brunswick, NJ
10,000+ employees
New Jersey’s job market is taking another hit, this time from pharma giant Johnson & Johnson, which is parting ways with 56 employees in New Brunswick, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act posting for the state. The layoffs will take effect on August 21.
This is J&J’s first announced workforce reduction of this year, according to a tally by BioSpace. But the pharma has for years been constantly reshaping its business to accommodate the loss of exclusivity of its autoimmune disease powerhouse Stelara—a campaign that has involved cutting back investments in other parts of its business, while putting more money into higher-value areas like cancer.
Other Big Pharma players to recently slash their New Jersey headcounts include Novartis, Bristol Myers Squibb and Novo Nordisk.