After filing plans in March to cut 114 jobs related to its U.S. headquarters in New Jersey, Novartis late last month added several roles from its East Hanover location in a multi-year layoff plan.
The move is separate from previous rounds of job cuts, a Novartis spokesperson confirmed to Fierce Pharma on Monday.
An additional 60 employees associated with the company’s East Hanover headquarters are scheduled to be laid off later this year, according to an April Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) filing sent to the state of New Jersey.
In an emailed statement, a Novartis spokesperson said the layoffs come as Novartis “takes steps to evolve its U.S. oncology, rheumatology, dermatology and neuroscience sales teams.”
According to communications with the state, the new cuts will begin to take effect in late July, unlike the previous cuts, which were suggested to begin in June. Both layoff rounds are expected to be completed by late November.
“Novartis continually evaluates opportunities to adapt to meet evolving patient, customer and business needs,” the spokesperson said. “That’s why we strive to ensure we have the strongest talent in the areas where they can have the greatest potential impact for our patients and customers.”
The previous job cuts this year signaled Novartis’ efforts to reorganize its rare disease drug sales team.
Novartis’ rare disease portfolio consists of drugs such as chronic myeloid leukemia drugs Tasigna and Promacta, which are indicated for the treatment of low platelet counts in certain patients. Together with Entrestro, these two drugs constitute a formidable patent cliff for Novartis to overcome in 2026.
At the same time, the company is currently leading the launch of several new rare kidney disease treatments, including Rhapsido, Vanfrafia, and Fabhalta.
This is not the first time Novartis has made cuts to its East Hanover team. A similar move to realign the cardiovascular sector’s commercial structure resulted in around 427 job cuts in March last year.
Novartis announced in September that it would lay off an additional 58 employees reporting to its New Jersey headquarters, impacting its U.S. medical administration team, a Novartis spokesperson said at the time.
Novartis is just one of many pharmaceutical giants, including Pfizer and Merck & Co., that have planned significant job cuts in recent years, often due to the huge patent cliff looming over some of the industry’s biggest branded drugs.
Meanwhile, Novartis has been working to right-size its business since mid-2022, aligning with its plans to combine its Oncology and Pharmaceuticals divisions into one innovative medicines business managed by geographic location.
