Takeda’s multiyear “efficiency program” is in full swing.
The Japanese pharma is set to let go a total of 641 workers in Massachusetts: 495 in Cambridge and the remaining 146 in Lexington, a spokesperson confirmed to Endpoints News.
Takeda was the largest biopharma employer in the state at 6,290 in 2023, followed by Sanofi at 4,600 and Moderna with 4,163. A Takeda spokesperson declined to say which types of roles would be affected.
The spokesperson said the job cuts are “not an initiative to reduce staff” but are a function of the company’s recent moves to reallocate resources and “will include adding new roles” with specific skill sets to best address its needs.
As a part of a companywide restructuring, Takeda said in May it is going to close its research center in San Diego. Earlier, in March, the company reduced operations in Austria and said goodbye to its CFO in February. It also made several rounds of pipeline cuts this year.
The layoffs in Massachusetts will start in early July, right up to the end of March 2025, according to a WARN notice. “We are committed to supporting employees in impacted roles during this time in multiple ways, including assistance to identify other potential opportunities within Takeda as we create new roles, transition resources and consultation services,” the spokesperson said.
Takeda has made several deals this year, notably in the molecular glue space, in an anti-amyloid Alzheimer’s vaccine, a rare disease drug and an oral small molecule inhibitor. It also named a new head of oncology at the start of the year.