Facing vaccine pressures in multiple markets, Merck & Co. is pruning the ranks at one of its key U.S. production facilities.
In a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act alert filed this week, Merck revealed that it is laying off 147 staffers at its vaccine manufacturing plant in Durham, plus seven other employees who report to a different address in the city, which is part of North Carolina’s famed Research Triangle region.
The cuts are a result of Merck's decision to end production of Gardasil and Gardasil 9 at the site on Old Oxford Road “because of the recent worldwide reduction in demand for the product,” Amanda Taylor, VP of plant management in vaccine operations, wrote in the WARN letter.
The job cuts are slated to take effect on May 1, according to the state filing.
When reached for comment, a Merck spokesperson confirmed the layoffs, adding that the drugmaker continuously evaluates its business and adjusts operations “as needed to ensure the effectiveness of our manufacturing network in delivering reliable, compliant supply of our medicines and vaccines.”
Just last year, Merck opened a new $1 billion vaccine production plant in Durham, spanning some 225,000 square feet and focused on production of Gardasil specifically, according to reports from local news outlets at the time. As recently as October, Merck said it was creating 400 new full-time roles at the Gardasil plant.
Across the broader Durham site, Merck has historically manufactured multiple vaccines, including those for measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox.
As for Gardasil specifically, Merck has long benefited from the shot’s strong presence in the Chinese market, but a sharp plunge in demand for the vaccine there has swiftly blunted its trajectory. While the shot remained Merck’s No. 2 product by sales in 2025, Gardasil is likely to drop in the firm's sales rankings over time as new growth drivers gain steam.
The Gardasil decline in China kicked off in earnest in August of 2024, and even as sales of the shot have trended upward in other geographies, Merck has been unable to right the course in the key Asian market.
The sudden shift in vaccine demand in China prompted Merck in February of last year to announce that it was halting Gardasil shipments to the country. The move, which Merck noted at the time would be temporary, was designed to help the drugmaker clear out (PDF) excess doses of the vaccine in its inventory.
In its latest earnings dispatch, Merck said that it logged zero Gardasil sales in China in 2025’s fourth quarter. The company isn’t baking any more shipments to China into its 2026 guidance either, according to Bloomberg.
All told, worldwide Gardasil sales fell 39% to $5.2 billion last year, with Merck also citing lower sales in Japan following a national catch-up immunization program.
Like other vaccine makers, Merck is further grappling with a now uncertain vaccine policy and regulatory environment in the U.S. under HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
And beyond its current vaccine hurdles, Merck is also gearing up for the looming loss of exclusivity on its megablockbuster cancer med Keytruda.
Earlier this week, in a bid to optimize new and upcoming launches, the company said it would reorganize its current human health business into an oncology division and a separate specialty, pharma and infectious disease unit. That latter unit will also oversee vaccines.