After a series of head count reductions in recent years, Takeda has disclosed a new round of cuts set to affect commercial employees spread throughout the country.
The layoffs are expected to affect 243 field-based employees in 47 states and the District of Columbia, a company spokesperson said. The company revealed its plan in a Jan. 14 filing to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The workers are remote but are assigned to Takeda’s U.S. headquarters in Cambridge, according to the filing.
Takeda is “making a strategic decision within the U.S. Neuroscience Business Unit to navigate the upcoming loss of exclusivity for Trintellix,” the spokesperson explained. First approved by the FDA in 2013, the depression drug faces a key U.S. patent expiration in December of this year.
Affected workers are “being encouraged to consider pursuing other opportunities, as appropriate, within Takeda,” the company's spokesperson said.
In making the move, the company is “reprioritizing resources” to prepare for “multiple potential new medication launches in the U.S. that are generating more than 400 new commercial field roles to enable strong execution,” the spokesperson added.
“We are helping employees in impacted roles by providing transition resources and assistance in identifying other potential opportunities within Takeda, including the new commercial field roles that will contribute to an overall increase in Takeda headcount,” the spokesperson added.
In May of 2024, Takeda revealed a multiyear “efficiency program” designed to counter the declining sales of its attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder medicine, Vyvanse, and return the company to profit growth.
A few weeks later, the drugmaker said it planned to slash 641 jobs at two sites in Massachusetts over the next 10 months.
Also in May of 2024, Takeda halted operations at an R&D facility in San Diego, leaving 324 employees without jobs. The company also slashed 190 roles when it exited its gene therapy manufacturing business in Austria. Less than four months ago, Takeda laid off 137 employees in Massachusetts as part of a plan to exit the cell therapy arena.
Early last year, Takeda took on full responsibility for Trintellix in the U.S. from longtime partner Lundbeck ahead of the medicine's patent loss.
Editor's note: This story was updated to clarify the nature of the reassignment opportunities for affected employees.