December 23

According to Fierce Biotech, due to company restructuring, clinical research organization Javara, headquartered in North Carolina, is laying off employees. Specific details about the number of employees laid off have not been reported.

December 18

Ring Therapeutics is laying off about 50%, leaving approximately 40 employees. Ring Therapeutics is a five-year-old startup based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The layoffs are part of the company's focus on its proprietary genetic medicine carrier platform, Anellobricks. As the project moves into clinical trials, the company expects to continue growing.

December 17

Outlook Therapeutics is laying off 23% of its workforce due to disappointing clinical trial results. This decision is part of an effort to reduce costs, extend its cash runway, and obtain FDA approval for bevacizumab. The company expects this move to save $1.4 million annually, excluding layoff expenses. After the layoffs, Outlook may have 16 employees remaining. In November, the company announced that its NORSEEIGHT clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of bevacizumab for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) failed to meet the FDA’s pre-specified non-inferiority endpoint at week 8. However, Outlook pointed out that early data showed vision improvement, biological activity, and sustained good safety. The company expects to announce more trial data in January and plans to resubmit the biologics license application in Q1 2025. Although the FDA rejected approval of bevacizumab for wet AMD in 2023, the drug has received approval for marketing in the European Union. Outlook plans to launch bevacizumab in the EU and the UK in the first half of 2025.

December 16

Due to the inability to find a development sponsor for its sickle cell disease therapy renizgamglogene autogedtemcel, Editas announced that it will discontinue its ex vivo therapy work in the next six months and lay off about 65% of its workforce. This move will affect several members of the management team, including the Chief Medical Officer, Baisong Mei. The company expects these adjustments to extend its runway until Q2 2027. Going forward, Editas will focus its resources and expertise on in vivo CRISPR editing programs.

December 12

According to a WARN notice, Danish vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic will close its research organization in San Diego and lay off 48 employees. The first round of layoffs will take effect on December 13, with the second round around March 31. The facility will be closed around April 1. Bavarian acquired the San Diego R&D division from Emergent BioSolutions in 2023, which also included rights to the typhoid vaccine Vivotif, the cholera vaccine Vaxchora, and the Phase III clinical development candidate for chikungunya virus vaccine CHIKVVLP. The company also announced plans to repurchase up to 150 million Danish Krone (USD 21 million) worth of stock. The integration is expected to save 50 to 75 million DKK (7 to 10.5 million USD) annually.

December 12

Benevolent AI announced that as part of a strategic reform, it will lay off employees to simplify operations, reduce costs, and refocus on its core mission of technology serving science. The London-based company did not disclose the number of employees affected. However, the company expects its cash runway to extend until 2027. This is not the first layoff for Benevolent AI. In May 2023, the company announced optimization of its pipeline and technology platform to reduce costs and maximize value, laying off about 180 employees. In April 2024, Benevolent AI announced a 30% reduction in its workforce and closure of its U.S. office. On December 12, Chroma, based in Boston, and Nvelop, based in Cambridge, announced a merger to form a new company, nChromaBio. Due to overlapping areas, layoffs will follow the merger, with the number unspecified. nChroma has raised $75 million in new financing. This funding, along with the cash on hand from the two companies at the time of the merger, will provide years of cash flow to support continued development of nChroma's epigenetic editing platform and advance its leading candidate, CRMA-1001, into clinical trials and key data reads. CRMA-1001 is a liver-targeted epigenetic editing therapy for chronic hepatitis B and delta hepatitis co-infection.

December 11

Cellectar Biosciences launched a strategic prioritization plan, which will lead to a 60% reduction in its workforce. The layoffs are expected to be completed by Q4 2024. In early 2024, the FDA stated that Cellectar could seek accelerated approval of Iopofosine I-131 based on its ongoing CLOVERWaM trial. However, the FDA now requires an additional randomized, controlled validation study to support the regulatory submission. Given this change, Cellectar has decided to seek a partnership with a larger organization that has more resources to support the further development and commercialization of Iopofosine I-131. Cellectar expects this restructuring to extend its cash runway until Q3 2025.

December 10

Philadelphia-based biopharmaceutical company Carisma Therapeutics announced that it will lay off 34% of its workforce, about 23 full-time employees, including 3 executives and researchers. This is part of the company’s effort to refocus on its fibrosis, oncology, and autoimmune disease treatments. As part of its strategic restructuring, Carisma will also discontinue the development of CT-0525, a gene-modified autologous chimeric antigen receptor-monocyte (CAR-M) cell therapy for treating HER2-positive metastatic solid tumors.

December 10

San Diego-based startup Belharra Therapeutics, focused on small molecule oncology and immunology drugs, laid off 21 people, leaving 30 employees. The layoffs are expected to extend Belharra’s runway to reach a “critical inflection point” while easing financing pressure. Belharra announced in June that it had formed a partnership with Sanofi to leverage Belharra’s non-covalent chemical proteomics platform to identify and advance small molecules targeting undisclosed immune targets designated by Sanofi. Belharra is eligible to receive up to $700 million in total R&D and commercialization milestone payments and royalties on net sales. Founded in January 2023 with $130 million in funding, including a $80 million advance from Genentech, Belharra has also received $50 million in Series A financing from Versant Ventures. Earlier this year, BioSpace named Belharra to its 2024 NextGen Biotech List, which recognizes the most promising new life science companies in the U.S.

December 9

National Resilience announced that as part of its strategic realignment, it will lay off 105 employees at its plant in Alachua, Florida. The layoffs will begin in February 2025 and continue until June 2025. A Resilience spokesperson stated that the company will downsize its Florida operations to focus more strategically on business development and manufacturing to meet customer and patient needs. Resilience acquired the Alachua plant from Ology Bioservices in April 2021. The plant primarily manufactures drugs and biologics for commercial customers and the U.S. government. At the time of the acquisition, Resilience secured over $1.8 billion in government contracts.

December 9

Amplify Bio is closing its South San Francisco facility and discontinuing its research and characterization services. Some of the work from the facility will be transferred to a new facility in Ohio. These changes will allow Amplify Bio to seamlessly integrate early drug discovery and characterization with its manufacturing activities. The restructuring will also help the CDMO reduce management costs and offer services at more competitive market prices. Amplify Bio is a preclinical contract research organization and manufacturing service provider that offers discovery, characterization, and optimization services, as well as in vitro and in vivo safety studies. Its work includes multiple therapeutic modalities, such as small molecule drugs, mRNA therapies, and cell and gene therapies.

December 5

Due to strategic operational adjustments, Agenus, a Lexington, Massachusetts-based company specializing in immuno-oncology treatments, laid off about 14% of its workforce. The layoffs, totaling about 100 employees, were implemented following a series of reorganizations that focused on focusing resources on key immuno-oncology assets. Agenus also announced that it would close its East Coast manufacturing facility and open a new laboratory facility. The company plans to prioritize its most promising clinical programs, including the development of next-generation immune-modulatory antibody therapeutics. Agenus expects the layoffs and restructuring will extend the company's cash runway by approximately 12 months.

These layoffs are reflective of the ongoing challenges facing biopharmaceutical companies, such as competition, research and development costs, regulatory issues, and ongoing restructuring efforts. The biopharmaceutical industry remains under pressure to balance cost containment with innovation.