Over 14000 Layoffs Rock Biopharma as BMS Leads Industry-Wide Shakeup in 2025

The biopharma industry is facing a wave of restructurings and layoffs, with more than 14,000 job cuts reported in 2024, and the situation appears to be worsening in 2025. Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), after acquiring a virus vector plant from Novartis in Illinois two years ago, is now shutting it down, signaling a broader shift. A new notice reveals 516 job cuts in New Jersey, adding to a long list of cuts across BMS sites this year.

Mass layoffs are not limited to BMS. Eisai and Biogen, struggling with weak sales of their Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi, are also trimming their workforce. Galapagos, once a rising European biotech star, is splitting into two companies and cutting 40% of its staff, aiming to reboot its cell therapy strategy with over €2.45 billion in cash.

The downturn is especially harsh for cell and gene therapy (CGT) companies. Once a booming field, CGT now faces funding shortages, clinical delays, and regulatory setbacks. Companies like Encoded Therapeutics and Atara Biotherapeutics have cut deep into their R&D teams, while even approved products like Casgevy from CRISPR Therapeutics and Vertex are struggling with slow uptake and high costs. Pfizer, a giant in the space, has exited entirely, abandoning its hemophilia gene therapy program despite FDA approval.

Spotlight Therapeutics has shut down, and Vertex is scaling back its gene editing ambitions, scrapping multiple pipeline programs. While FDA leadership hints at more flexibility, commercial hurdles remain formidable.

For an industry built on promise and precision, the gap between scientific hope and business reality is growing. But where risks emerge, so do opportunities—for those able to anticipate where the next breakthrough will survive the storm.