Layoffs in Biotech and Pharma: A February 2025 Overview by Therapeutic and Technology Focus

In February 2025, the biotech and pharmaceutical sectors face a series of workforce reductions as companies grapple with financial constraints, pipeline adjustments, and operational realignments. From oncology to gene therapies and metabolic disorders, firms are resizing staff to match evolving priorities. These layoffs can be categorized by therapeutic and technological focus, detailing the companies, their assets, disease targets, and the reasons driving these changes, as reported throughout the month.

Oncology and Immuno-Oncology

Oncology-focused companies are streamlining staff amid pipeline shifts and funding challenges. Lava Therapeutics, a clinical-stage immuno-oncology biotech with bases in Utrecht and Philadelphia, cuts 30% of its 37 employees—leaving about 25—while exploring a sale, merger, or acquisition. With $76.6 million in cash as of December 2024, Lava continues its Phase I trial of LAVA-1266, a bispecific gamma delta T-cell engager for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), after dropping its prostate cancer asset LAVA-1207 in December. Repare Therapeutics in Montreal slashes 75% of its 179 staff, retaining fewer than 35, including the exit of Chief Medical Officer Maria Koehler by March 31. This follows a 25% cut in 2024, with Repare now prioritizing Phase I programs PLK4 inhibitor RP-1664 and Polθ ATPase inhibitor RP-3467 for cancer.

Moreover, Viracta Therapeutics in Cardiff, California, shut down entirely, laying off all remaining staff—likely under 20 after prior cuts of 23% in August and 42% in November 2024—after halting its EBV+ lymphoma program in December and facing Nasdaq delisting in January. Frontier Medicines, a San Francisco and Boston-based precision medicine firm, reduces an unspecified number of staff to focus on its KRAS G12C dual inhibitor FMC-376, expecting Phase I/II interim data in late 2025 after an $80 million Series C in 2024. Kojin Therapeutics in Boston closes operations, affecting 25 employees, as funding dries up months from naming a lead small-molecule ferroptosis inducer for cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Hematology and Blood Disorders

Companies targeting blood cancers and related disorders are resizing to stretch resources. Ryvu Therapeutics in Kraków, Poland, trims 30% of its workforce, leaving around 200 employees, to extend its $48.3 million cash pile into mid-2026. It focuses on three Phase II trials of RVU120 for AML, myelofibrosis, and MDS, suspending new enrollment in a fourth AML/MDS study, with data updates due in Q2. Turnstone Biologics in La Jolla, California, cuts an undisclosed number of its 30 staff—after a 60% reduction in October 2024—as it halts its TIDAL-01 tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy trials for colorectal, head and neck, and uveal melanoma cancers, exploring strategic alternatives like a merger or asset sale.

Gene Editing and Genetic Medicines

Gene-focused biotechs are adjusting headcounts as platforms falter or priorities shift. Spotlight Therapeutics in San Francisco shuts down, impacting over 40 staff at its peak, after its TAGE platform—a CRISPR-Cas delivery system for immuno-oncology and blood disorders—showed only 7% editing efficiency in mice per a December 2024 preprint. Encoded Therapeutics in San Francisco lays off 29% of its roughly 200 employees, primarily in tech and early R&D, to stretch its runway to Q3 2026 and advance ETX101, a Dravet syndrome gene therapy, with preliminary Phase I data expected later in 2025. CRISPR Therapeutics, with sites in Boston, San Francisco, and Framingham, reduces an unspecified number of staff across science, research, and manufacturing roles, despite $1.9 billion in cash and strong demand for its Casgevy gene-editing therapy for sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia, co-developed with Vertex.

Metabolic and Inflammatory Diseases

Firms in metabolic and inflammatory spaces are refocusing amid cash concerns. Inventiva in France halves its 115-person workforce in Q2 to concentrate solely on lanifibranor, a Phase III candidate for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), ending preclinical oncology work on YAP-TEAD interactions. Fractyl Health cuts 17% of its 129 staff—22 people—to prioritize Revita, an endoscopic duodenal treatment, for a pivotal weight maintenance trial post-GLP-1 withdrawal, pausing its type 2 diabetes trial, while advancing its Rejuva gene therapy for pancreatic GLP-1 restoration into first-in-human studies.

Similarly, Third Harmonic Bio reduces 50% of its workforce to push THB335, an oral KIT inhibitor for chronic spontaneous urticaria, into Phase II, with $285 million in cash to last through June 2025. Q32 Bio in Waltham, Massachusetts, trims an undisclosed number of staff to extend its runway to mid-2026, focusing on bempikibart for alopecia areata in Phase II, while discontinuing its ADX-097 renal trial and exploring options for its complement inhibitor platform.

Large Pharma: Operational Efficiency and Portfolio Shifts

Major pharmaceutical players are shedding jobs to boost efficiency. Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) continues its cost-cutting spree, targeting $2 billion in savings by 2027 atop a $1.5 billion goal by 2025. In February, BMS lays off 223 in Lawrenceville, New Jersey (effective May to August), 67 more there (April to December), and earlier cuts of 67, totaling 290 in the city this year after over 1,300 in 2024, as it streamlines management and prioritizes growth brands, ending partnerships with Immatics and Century Therapeutics.

Then, Kyowa Kirin cuts 52 staff in Princeton, New Jersey, by May 1, aligning with its shift to a global research focus on antibodies and stem cell gene therapy, following an early retirement offer in 2024. Moderna trims 10% of its digital team—about 50 of 500 roles—as part of cost efficiencies, reporting $966 million in Q4 2024 revenue (down from $2.81 billion in 2023), aiming to cut R&D by $1.1 billion annually by 2027. Eisai reduces 121 U.S. staff (6.8%), including 57 in Nutley, New Jersey, by May, to optimize operations while targeting cancer, Alzheimer’s, and neurological conditions.

Rare Diseases and Immunotherapies

Rare disease and immunotherapy biotechs are resizing to sustain key programs. X4 Pharmaceuticals lays off 43 of its 143 global staff—30%—closing its Vienna research center and pausing preclinical work to save $30-35 million, focusing on mavorixafor (Xolremdi) for WHIM syndrome after its FDA approval in 2024 and a $29.55 million Norgine licensing deal. ImmunityBio cuts 10 California staff (nine in El Segundo, one in Culver City) by March 25, leaving around 630 of its 672 employees, while advancing Anktiva for bladder cancer into a Phase III NSCLC trial with BeiGene’s tislelizumab.

Contract Research and Manufacturing Services

Service providers are adjusting to demand shifts. Charles River Laboratories closes its Durham County, North Carolina, site, laying off 31 by March 28, and trims an unspecified number at its Memphis, Tennessee, cell and gene therapy facility, after cutting over 1,300 staff since 2023 amid lower demand, reporting $1.01 billion in Q3 2024 revenue (down 1.6%). Thermo Fisher Scientific axes 300 at its Cambridge and Plainville, Massachusetts, viral vector sites by March 30, following 160 cuts across three sites announced in November 2024, despite flat full-year revenue of $42.8 billion.

Epigenomics and Other Emerging Tech

Emerging tech firms face cash crunches. Omega Therapeutics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, cuts up to 17 staff—leaving about 40 after a 35% cut in 2024—as it nears bankruptcy with a $1.4 million Flagship Pioneering bridge loan, despite a Novo Nordisk obesity deal, with funds only to Q2 2025.

This February 2025 snapshot reflects a biotech and pharma landscape adapting to clinical, financial, and strategic pressures, with companies recalibrating teams to align with their most promising or sustainable paths forward.

Related posts:

ASGCT21 Highlights: Present Trends and Future Directions of Gene and Cell Therapies in Immuno-Oncology The Boldest Business Matchmaking of 2024: A Look at the Top M&A Activity Biotech Giants Behind Partnerships in Precision Therapies, Gene Editing, and ADCs Pharma Faces $236 Billion Patent Cliff by 2030: Key Drugs and Companies at Risk

Author

Bernice Lottering