In a move that follows an increasingly common trend in biopharma M&A, Novartis is shedding sites and staffers from the German cancer biotech it acquired earlier this year.
Novartis confirmed Thursday that it’s closing down MorphoSys sites in Munich and Boston and planning around 330 layoffs. The company made the decision in November as it looks to “integrate all portfolio activities into Novartis,” a spokesperson from the Swiss pharma said over email.
Novartis purchased German cancer specialist MorphoSys for 2.7 billion euros (about $2.9 billion) in early February. The deal was inked shortly after MorphoSys sold its lone commercial asset—the lymphoma med Monjuvi—to longtime partner Incyte, placing the emphasis for the deal on the company’s late-stage oncology candidate pelabresib.
In October, Novartis said it was pushing back plans to seek approval for pelabresib after reviewing 48-week data on the BET inhibitor in myelofibrosis. In its third-quarter results announcement, Novartis said a “longer follow-up time is needed to determine, in consultation with health authorities, the regulatory path for pelabresib.”
CEO Vas Narasimhan provided more color, explaining on an investor call that a safety signal had emerged over the course of 2024.
“We plan to follow these patients longer, look at the data over the course of the next year, also evaluate what additional studies we would need to do to mitigate both the safety risk but also create a stronger data package,” Narasimhan explained.
In a statement Thursday, a Novartis spokesperson said the decision to close the two MorphoSys sites is "based on our evolving R&D portfolio, the focus of scientific expertise and resources on prioritized programs, and the longer follow-up time required to determine the approval pathway for pelabresib in myelofibrosis."
“Novartis remains committed to advancing the development of pelabresib,” he said, adding that teams from both companies “continue to work on the R&D programs and support the integration of activities into Novartis.”
Aside from Novartis, several other large pharma companies have completed acquisitions and then subsequently sent jobs to the chopping block in recent years.
Take Bristol Myers Squibb, which telegraphed layoffs of 252 Mirati staffers in San Diego this past March, just two months after closing its $4.8 billion deal for the oncology drug developer.
Amgen charted a similar move last October when it said it was laying off about 350 former Horizon Therapeutics employees whose roles “overlap[ped] with existing teams at Amgen," a spokesperson explained.
Meanwhile, post-buyout staff cuts have also occurred at Gilead Sciences’ Immunomedics, GSK’s Bellus Health, Merck & Co.’s Acceleron and Sanofi’s Kadmon over the years.