Novartis is making further workforce reductions at its U.S. headquarters in New Jersey, planning to eliminate 114 positions as the drugmaker rejigs its sales team for rare-disease medicines.
The Swiss pharma telegraphed the layoffs in a recent Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filing (PDF) to the state, with the cuts slated to take effect from late June to November.
“[O]ur US Customer Engagement organization has been evaluating opportunities to evolve our field sales team structures to better support the unique needs of patients and customers in the rare and ultra-rare disease spaces—where Novartis has a strong footprint and focus with in-market products and upcoming pivotal launches,” a Novartis spokesperson told Fierce Pharma. “To that end, we are making some organizational changes that result in some roles being eliminated, modified, and created.”
The adjustment marks the latest in a series of layoffs at Novartis, which can be traced all the way back to a major reorganization launched in 2022.
Novartis offers several drugs in the rare disease space. These include chronic myeloid leukemia therapy Tasigna and Promacta for treating low blood platelet counts in certain patients, including those with the rare blood disorders chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) and aplastic anemia. The two meds, together with the megablockbuster heart failure treatment Entresto, form the largest single-year patent cliff in Novartis’ history, presenting a notable challenge for the company in 2026.
Novartis is also managing a few new rare disease launches in the autoimmune field, including Rhapsido for chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU). It’s additionally rolling out two rare kidney disease therapies, Vanrafia and Fabhalta, in IgA nephropathy. Further, the dual-mechanism, B-cell-depleting antibody ianalumab is nearing the market after a pair of phase 3 wins in Sjögren’s, while a first-line ITP pivotal readout is expected this year.
“Novartis continually assesses opportunities to adapt in alignment with our evolving pipeline, patient, and customer needs. As such, we direct our efforts and talent toward areas where we can create the greatest potential impact for patients and customers,” the company spokesperson said.
Novartis has made multiple cuts tied to its New Jersey HQ in the past few years. In September, it laid out a plan to lay off 58 employees in its U.S. medical affairs organization, following another overhaul of its cardiovascular commercial structure that affected 427 employees.
The Swiss pharma has been steadily dialing back its U.S. workforce in recent years. Coinciding with the separation of the biosimilars and generics unit Sandoz, Novartis’ U.S. headcount, measured by full-time equivalents, dropped by nearly 12% year over year to 12,846 in 2023. As of the end of last year, the company had 12,556 full-time employees stateside.
Globally, Novartis is only one of two large pharma companies that have consistently slimmed down every year between 2021 and 2025, according to a recent Fierce Pharma analysis.
While its U.S. commercial team and general and administrative functions have become smaller, Novartis beefed up its manufacturing headcount by 25% last year to 1,479 people. Following an industry-wide trend to avoid potential pharmaceutical tariffs by the Trump administration, Novartis last year unveiled a $23 billion investment to grow its U.S. footprint in production and R&D.