Over 130 employees let go from Merck KGaA R&D teams in Massachusetts
A total of 133 employees at Merck KGaA’s EMD Serono division in Billerica, MA, are losing their jobs as a result of a recent restructuring, according to the company.
Most of the affected employees are from the location’s discovery and development technologies operations, and a “small number” were from research teams, according to a company spokesperson.
“Changes to the organizational structure of our Billerica-based research team were recently announced as our R&D organization continues its transformation,” the company said. “We will keep our strong research unit footprints for neuroscience and immunology (N&I) and oncology, focusing on selected biological areas and scientific capabilities.”
Fierce Biotech reported news of the job cuts earlier today.
Signs of a potential slimming of the company were described in an announcement on Nov. 21, which said the company would focus on “external innovation” while increasing productivity.
Merck KGaA, which is based out of Germany but operates its healthcare unit in the US and Canada as EMD Serono, said at the time that it planned to double down on R&D productivity with a goal of one new product or indication every one and a half years on average in oncology, neurology and immunology.
In its oncology pipeline, its lead asset is xevinapant, a small molecule designed to target squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. It’s currently in two Phase III trials.
The company is also researching and testing candidates for multiple sclerosis, neurological diseases and lupus.
There have been layoffs across the biotech and pharma industries over the last few months. Most recently, Atomwise, an AI-focused drug discovery company, cut its headcount by 30% in December. Last week, Cyteir Therapeutics let 70% of its staffers go after it suspended enrollment for a Phase II trial testing its lead drug, CYT-0851, as a monotherapy. And Bristol Myers Squibb recently let go of some R&D workers in New Jersey.