Biopharma manufacturing cuts pass 4,000 jobs as companies shrink older plants

Ten biopharma companies have cut, or plan to cut, 4,062 jobs at manufacturing plants, according to a BioSpace tally published on 29 October that runs to 28 October. Several of the sites involved are closing outright rather than trimming headcount.

Where the cuts are

BioNTech is the largest single contributor at 1,860 roles. Its May quarterly report set out plans to leave manufacturing sites expected to become underused or idle within 24 months. That covers about 440 positions at Idar-Oberstein and about 540 at Marburg in Germany, both closing by the end of 2027, around 60 jobs in Singapore in the first quarter of 2027, and roughly 820 roles across the CureVac sites it took on through its $1.25B all-stock acquisition in 2025.

In the US, BioSpace points to about 150 Pfizer roles in Portage, Michigan, which Pfizer linked to lower expected demand for some products made there, plus an undisclosed number at Rocky Mount and Sanford in North Carolina. Merck laid off 147 people at its Durham, North Carolina, vaccine plant, effective 1 May, following a WARN notice filed in February.

The list kept growing during the week. On 27 October, BioSpace's layoff tracker logged a WARN notice from Teva covering 61 employees at its Fairfield, New Jersey, manufacturing facility, which closes with effect from 1 February 2027. The notice cites declining demand and price erosion, and describes the site as underused and costly to run.

Investment and cuts at the same time

The pattern is not a retreat from manufacturing. Gilead, GSK, Merck and Pfizer in 2025, and Novo in 2024, each committed $1B or more to new manufacturing in the past three years, BioSpace notes. Merck's $3B, 400,000-square-foot facility in Elkton, Virginia, is expected to add potentially more than 500 full-time roles.

"Domestic investment and workforce reductions can be simultaneous." Caitlin Prendes, VP of CMC at Abcentra, speaking to BioSpace

Prendes also pointed out that layoffs at existing sites can come years before hiring starts at new ones, because plants are built around expected demand for particular medicines. When that demand shifts, older capacity is left over.

Efficiency is the theme

BioPlan Associates' 2026 survey of bioprocessing professionals, cited in the same piece, found the share saying productivity or efficiency improvements are needed rose from 14.6% in 2025 to 20.9% in 2026. BioPlan's managing partner, Eric Langer, told BioSpace he expects the trend to carry into 2027.

What the count leaves out

BioSpace builds its numbers from company confirmations, press releases, WARN notices, SEC filings and media reports. It excludes CDMOs, CROs, tools and services businesses and device makers, and some companies only disclose percentages or report totals after the fact. The real figure across the wider manufacturing workforce is likely to be different, in either direction.