AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT TAKEDA PHARMACEUTICAL (10/07/25)

Stephen Levine May 30, 2023

OCTOBER 7, 2025 — 137 IN MASSACHUSETTS

The company announced a strategic portfolio prioritization, ending development of its cell therapy assets, including its gamma-delta T-cell therapy platform, as it seeks an external partner to take on its platform technologies and clinic-ready programs.

The product realignment will impact 137 of its Massachusetts employees.

According to a company spokesperson, “As part of a strategic portfolio prioritization, we have made the decision to discontinue our cell therapy efforts,” the company said in a statement. This will enable us to focus on areas with the greatest potential to deliver transformative therapies to patients with increased speed and scale. We will seek an external partner to leverage our cell therapy platform technologies and further advance our research and clinic-ready programs in this field.”

JULY 2, 2024 — 220 MORE EMPLOYEES TO FACE LAYOFFS

The restructuring continues as the company announced further job cuts that will impact 189 employees at its Cambridge headquarters and 31 at its Lexington site and occur between August 2024 and March 2025.

MAY 30, 2024 — 641 EMPLOYEES TARGETED IN MASSACHUSETTS

Continuing with its multiyear “efficiency program, the company is planning to lay off 641 employees, including 495 EMPLOYEES from its U.S. headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and 146 from its Lexington, Massachusetts facility.

The Board of Directors approved a significant multi-year program focused on organizational agility, spending efficiencies, and leveraging the company’s capabilities in data, digital, and technology (DD&T). The program aims to improve growth through continued advancement of Takeda’s Growth & Launch Products and progressing the company’s robust late-stage pipeline to deliver innovative therapies for patients while helping drive Core Operating Profit margin improvement target of low- to mid-30%.
The program will start in FY2024 and includes initiatives to optimize its workforce—simplifying some division structures—and rigorously prioritize its R&D pipeline while investing in DD&T to increase productivity and efficiency across the organization. Procurement-led initiatives will be centered on optimizing external spend with the goal of achieving cost savings and efficiencies in Takeda's supply chain and vendor management processes. Details and timing of specific actions within the framework of these broader initiatives will be decided in due course.”

MAY 30, 2023 — Original post…

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, has announced that it will be stopping its early-stage programs in gene therapy, as well as rare blood diseases, to concentrate its resources on drugs that are closer to commercialization, including a midstage psoriasis drug that it bought from Nimbus Therapeutics.

The reduction in force will impact 186 employees, including research associates, research scientists, and clinical operations teams in four Cambridge, Massachusetts facilities, beginning in July 2023, and potentially taking place through March 2024.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT MEDICAGO

Stephen Levine February 21, 2023

Quebec City, Canada-based Medicago, a biopharmaceutical subsidiary of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma and a developer of plant-based vaccines and therapeutics, has announced that it will be ceasing all subsidiary activities.

The closure will impact all employees located at its Durham, North Carolina manufacturing facility which attempted to produce a plant-based Covid-19 vaccine that ultimately failed to gain widespread regulatory approval.

A company spokesperson attributed the closure and layoffs to the company restructuring its workforce to align with its changing business needs."

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT ATHENEX PHARMA SOLUTIONS

Stephen Levine January 20, 2023

JUNE 4, 2024 — BANKRUPTCY

The company has declared bankruptcy.

The filing will impact 123 employees in three phases ending in August 2023. Both Athenex locations will be closed.

In a company release...

"Dr. Johnson Lau, Chief Executive Officer of Athenex, on behalf of the management team and the Athenex Board of Directors, said, “Throughout our history, we have sought to become a leader in bringing innovative cancer treatments to the market and improving patient health outcomes. Our team was successful in bringing tirbanibulin, through regulatory approvals, to the U.S. market and a number of EU countries, as well as Taiwan. Unfortunately, our oral paclitaxel product candidate received a complete response letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and this significant regulatory setback, coupled with challenging biotech markets and the difficult economic environment, put tremendous pressure on our ability to continue to fund our businesses."
“Over the past two years, we made considerable progress in refocusing our business around our promising NKT cell therapy platform, monetizing non-core assets to improve our balance sheet and extending our cash runway, paying down $108 million of debt, and undertaking a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives to create value for our stakeholders. While we explored every viable avenue to avoid this outcome, an orderly sales process represents the best path forward at this time."
“Our goal remains to identify purchasers who will continue development of the important drug candidates for which we have established a good foundation, and to bring them to market on behalf of medical practitioners and, most importantly, for patients. We are incredibly thankful to our team for their dedication to Athenex and will look to support our colleagues through this transition period.”

JANUARY 20, 2023 — Original Post

Buffalo, New York-based Athenex Pharma Solutions, a biotechnology company specializing in the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel therapies for the treatment of cancer, has announced a strategic realignment that will see the company focus on its cell therapy programs, close its Clarence, New York, facility, and the implementation of a cost-containment program.

The reduction in force will impact 92 employees at the Clarence facility and an unknown number of employees elsewhere. The Clarence site closure is scheduled for March 17, 2023.

According to Johnson Lau, Chief Executive Officer of Athenex, “We are pleased to announce our new vision for the future of Athenex, by deploying our resources and harnessing our expertise toward the advancement of our promising cell therapy programs. We are taking action to swiftly redirect our resources and have begun executing on cost savings measures to right-size the company and support our transformation to a lean, focused cell therapy company.”