Novartis plans 400+ more layoffs in NJ

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Another wave of layoffs will impact Novartis‘ U.S. headquarters in New Jersey.

In a filing with the state Department of Labor & Workforce Development, the East Hanover-based Swiss pharmaceutical giant said it will eliminate 427 positions. The cuts will hit between June 13 and Oct. 24, 2025.

The notice comes three months after Novartis disclosed it would eliminate 139 jobs at the location between February and August. The company said the impacted employees primarily comprise commercial field sales teams for Xolair, Tafinlar and Mekinist (Taf+Mek). A company spokesman told NJBIZ that 17 associates work in New Jersey specifically with the remaining field based.

The planned reductions come as Novartis continues to move forward with a global restructuring initiative.

In 2022, Novartis unveiled a new organizational structure and operating model. The revamp aimed to support innovation, growth and productivity ambitions as a “focused medicines company” over the next decade. As a result, the company said it will eliminate approximately 8,000 positions around the world, or about 7% of its workforce.

According to Novartis, the changes should save at least $1 billion — as well as guarantee sales growth of at least 4% until 2025.

The broader shake-up has already affected nearly 400 employees in East Hanover between 2022 and 2023. 

Pure focus

Under the plan, Novartis combined its pharmaceuticals and oncology business units into two separate commercial organizations with a stronger geographic focus:

• Innovative Medicines U.S.
• Innovative Medicines International

As a pure-play innovative medicines business, Novartis now has four core therapeutic areas:

• Cardiovascular-renal-metabolic
• Immunology
• Neuroscience
• Oncology

Additionally, the company completed the spinoff of its generics and biosimilars business Sandoz.

Novartis also says it has “multiple significant in-market and pipeline assets in each of these areas” that “address high disease burden and have substantial growth potential.”

Commenting on Novartis’ latest quarterly earnings, CEO Vas Narasimhan said, “In our first full year as a pure-play innovative medicines company, Novartis delivered one of the strongest financial performances in our history, growing sales 12% cc [constant currency] and core operating income 22% cc [constant currency].”

“We also achieved important innovation milestones, including new approvals and readouts for many of the assets that will fuel our growth over the mid- to long-term. With the momentum we are seeing in the business, we expect to continue our strong sales growth with margin expansion in 2025 and we remain on track to deliver on our mid-term guidance.

“Looking ahead, we are focused on executing against our pipeline, including 15 submission-enabling readouts over the coming years and more than 30 assets with the potential to drive differentiated growth over the long term,” he added in the Jan. 31 statement. “We remain balanced in our capital allocation approach and committed to creating sustainable value for shareholders.”

Evolving business

Commenting on the newly announced job cuts in East Hanover, a company spokesperson told NJBIZ, “Novartis continually assesses opportunities to drive growth and sustainable performance and create the greatest potential impact for patients and customers.”

The media representative added, “We are committed to treating our people with fairness and respect and encourage affected employees to apply for open positions in other areas of our business.”

Ahead of the upcoming loss of patent protection for its best-selling heart failure drug Entresto as well as continued growth of cholesterol medication Leqvio, the company is focused on evolving its cardiovascular portfolio.

New product launches are also on the horizon, including for pelacarsen. The therapy aims to reduce elevated lipoprotein(a) concentrations in patients with elevated levels and at risk of cardiovascular disease.

“To support this future portfolio, we have made changes to our CV commercialization model that optimize our support for patients throughout their treatment journey and simplify and strengthen how we engage with our customers. The new structure will be implemented April 1, 2025,” the spokesperson said.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 3:47 p.m. EST March 21, 2025, to include a figure for associates located in New Jersey.