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.
All entries for: Small Molecule
August 7, 2025
Bayer
Layoffs
Whippany, NJ
50,001+ employees
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
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
July 30, 2025
GSK
Negative Outlook
London, UK
50,001+ employees
While there is currently significant uncertainty regarding the implementation of some of these reforms or the scope of amended or additional reforms, the implementation of reforms could significantly reduce net sales resulting from the Medicare programs and limit our ability to increase the prices that we charge for our drugs. Reforms or other changes to these payment systems may change the availability, methods and rates of reimbursements from Medicare, private insurers and other third-party payors for our current and any future approved products. These reforms may affect future investments in our drug development, should the reforms affect our risk-benefit analysis of investing in a drug candidate. Some of these changes and proposed changes could result in reduced reimbursement rates or the elimination of dual sources of payment, which could reduce the price that we or any of our collaborators or licensees receive for any products in the future, and which would adversely affect our business strategy, operations and financial results.
Disease Area: Immune Diseases, Multiple, Oncology, Rare Diseases, Respiratory Diseases
Drug Type: Biologic, Small Molecule
July 30, 2025
Neurocrine Biosciences Inc
Neutral Outlook
San Diego, CA
1,001-5,000 employees
AUSTEDO and AUSTEDO XR, marketed by Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries, have been selected for the Medicare drug negotiation program in 2025 (for initial price applicability year 2027). If the negotiation program results in a decrease in the price of AUSTEDO or AUSTEDO XR, it may result in increased competitive pressure on INGREZZA. We were notified in January 2025 that INGREZZA qualifies for the small biotech exception, which provides an exemption from selection until 2027 (for initial price applicability year 2029, pursuant to which negotiated pricing would go into effect, if selected). If negotiated for initial price applicability year 2029, we expect that the negotiated price for INGREZZA would be constrained by the “short monopoly” price ceiling and temporary price floor for small biotech drugs.
Disease Area: Endocrinology, Multiple, Neurological Diseases, Psychiatry
Drug Type: Biologic, Small Molecule
July 30, 2025
Sage Therapeutics - Cambridge
Negative Outlook
Cambridge, MA
1-50 employees
We expect that litigation involving these and other provisions of the IRA will continue, with unpredictable and uncertain results. We further cannot predict with certainty what impact the IRA or any other federal or state health reforms will have on us, but such changes could impose new or more stringent regulatory requirements on our activities or result in reduced reimbursement for our products, any of which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. There may be additional Congressional and administrative efforts to address drug pricing.
Disease Area: Multiple, Neurological Diseases, Psychiatry
Drug Type: Small Molecule
July 29, 2025
Adaptimmune Therapeutics
Layoffs
Oxfordshire, UK
201-500 employees
U.K.-based Adaptimmune Therapeutics plans to cut 62% of its workforce once its deal to sell four cell therapy assets to US WorldMeds closes, according to an SEC filing. US WorldMeds, a specialty pharma based in Louisville, Kentucky, intends to offer employment to about half of the biotech’s workforce as part of the transaction, the filing noted.
Disease Area: Oncology
Drug Type: Biologic, Small Molecule
