After a series of staff consolidation moves in recent weeks, Novartis is again trimming its ranks in a downsizing round centered on the Swiss drugmaker’s biomedical research arm.
After rumors circulated on social media that Novartis was carrying out a new reduction in force, a company spokesperson confirmed to Fierce Thursday that the firm has “communicated individual impacts to a select number of employees within our Biomedical Research organization.”
The spokesperson continued, “While this was a strategic decision, we recognize this is difficult news for those affected, and we remain committed to treating our colleagues with fairness, respect, and care.”
As of the end of 2025, Novartis employed some 5,720 full-time-equivalent scientists, physicians and business professionals in its biomedical research department, the company said (PDF) in its annual report.
Those staffers are based at sites spanning Basel, Switzerland; Cambridge, Massachusetts; East Hanover, New Jersey; and California, where the company boasts sites in both San Diego and Emeryville.
A week after Novartis confirmed the undisclosed number of cuts to Fierce, a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) filing with the state of New Jersey logged 76 planned layoffs tied to Novartis' East Hanover, New Jersey, U.S. headquarters. When reached for comment, a company spokesperson again alluded to the company's select biomedical research division cuts.
As of Friday, May 22, no new Novartis layoffs had been logged in either California or Massachusetts, where the company's other U.S. biomedical research operations are concentrated.
This isn’t the first time Novartis has downsized its research-focused activities in recent years.
Back in 2024, the Swiss pharma telegraphed a “phased exit” from its Technical Research and Development site at Campus Point Drive in San Diego, noting in July of that year that around 100 employees would be affected by the move.
Meanwhile, amid a multi-year restructuring effort, Novartis has more recently scaled back certain roles that report to its New Jersey U.S. headquarters. Plus, the company earlier this month said it would shutter a production facility in Wehr, Germany—primarily focused on older drugs from Novartis’ portfolio—in a move slated to trigger around 220 job cuts.
Novartis said in early May that it intends to close the Wehr site by the end of 2028.
Editor's note: This story was updated on May 22 to add new Novartis layoff figures from a WARN filing in New Jersey.