The AI drug discovery company’s reorganization will include laying off around 180 employees and dropping its atopic dermatitis candidate BEN-2293 in an effort to save nearly $56 million.
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As with the Massachusetts layoffs announced two weeks ago, a Takeda spokesperson stated that the cuts in California are directly related to the company’s decision to discontinue discovery and pre-clinical efforts in AAV gene therapy as well as research and pre-clinical efforts in rare hematology.
The year kicked off with mass layoffs in the tech industry, leaving many wondering if the same was in store for the biopharma industry. Fortunately, though layoff announcements have been steady, the biotech sector has not seen nearly the same peaks.
The company’s Branchburg, New Jersey location is the home of its largest diagnostic operations center in the United States.
The company announced plans to cut 25% of its workforce and unveiled promising data for its COVID-influenza combination vaccine and two other shots, raising hopes of a recovery for the cash-strapped biotech.
A Takeda spokesperson said the layoffs are not part of a larger initiative to reduce staff across the company. Rather, they are part of an effort to make sure the company is “best positioned to meet [its] current and future priorities.”
“Bristol Myers Squibb’s business model is constantly evolving to support our mission to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases,” a spokesperson stated. “As we move forward in 2023, we are continuing to deliver on our long-term business strategy by aligning resources to best support our operating model and our portfolio evolution.”
2022 saw myriad ups and downs in terms of the economy, and as it ebbed and flowed, so too did the job market. This trend has continued throughout 2023.
Theravance Biopharma is discontinuing research activities for its JAK inhibitor program in lung inflammation and reducing its headcount by about 17%.
Through the job cuts and other cost-saving measures, Grifols aims to save approximately $428 million USD in 2023, relative to comparative full-year 2022 costs, according to the company.