Amid Eisai’s efforts to capitalize on a potential growth surge for its Alzheimer’s disease med Leqembi, the Japanese drugmaker is reworking parts of its operations in the U.S.
Eisai plans to lay off approximately 121 employees across various functions as part of a new strategic restructuring in the U.S., a company spokesperson told Fierce Pharma on Thursday.
Fifty-seven roles being cut are either based at or report to Eisai’s U.S. corporate headquarters in Nutley, New Jersey, the spokesperson added. The restructuring, which represents a 6.83% reduction in Eisai's U.S. workforce, will primarily affect commercial, medical and corporate service functions.
“This difficult decision is part of our strategy to improve operations and ensure long-term sustainability,” the spokesperson explained. “We are deeply grateful to our valued employees for their dedication and contributions to Eisai’s business and are keenly aware of the impact this restructuring will have on them and their families.”
Despite the downsizing effort, Eisai is still “fully committed” to the U.S. market and will continue to help address diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s and other neurological conditions in the country, the spokesperson said.
The last few years for Eisai have been largely defined by the company’s Biogen-partnered Alzheimer’s med Leqembi (lecanemab), which was heralded as a major breakthrough in early treatment of the debilitating neurodegenerative disease when it was approved in early 2023.
While analysts have pinned blockbuster sales expectations on Leqembi, the drug’s growth in the U.S. has remained sluggish nearly two years in. That said, the pace did appear to pick up a bit during the final stretch of 2024.
In the third quarter of Eisai’s 2024 fiscal year—which ran from October to December—Leqembi sales grew (PDF) 33% compared with the prior quarter, reaching 13.3 billion Japanese yen ($89 million) for the period. That sum put the drug on track to achieve an overall sales haul of 42.5 billion yen ($279 million) for the year, Eisai executives said earlier this month.
Looking ahead, multiple factors—such as the advent of better blood-based diagnostics—could mean that a “growth expansion phase” for Leqembi is around the corner, Eisai’s chief operating and growth officer, Keisuke Naito, said on a Japanese language earnings call earlier this month.
“[T]he Leqembi business is continuously growing stronger,” Eisai’s CEO, Tatsuyuki Yasuno, added in a recent interview with Fierce Pharma, noting that the drug has now reached 13,500 patients in the U.S. and is operating from a base of more than 3,000 domestic prescribers.
The latest round of cuts at Eisai come after the company in early 2023 confirmed it was laying off 91 U.S. staffers in a move seemingly tied to its sale of the epilepsy med Fycompa to Catalyst Pharmaceuticals.