Trial setbacks and cost programmes bring fresh biopharma job cuts in October

Quarterly layoff totals may be at a record low, but October has shown how quickly a pipeline decision can change a company's headcount. Tango Therapeutics, EyePoint Pharmaceuticals and Foghorn Therapeutics have all announced cuts linked to clinical or portfolio decisions, while GSK is planning large reductions in Belgium under its cost programme.

Tango: research takes the hit

Tango's board approved a reprioritisation of its R&D on 22 October, according to a Form 8-K filed the following day. The company plans to cut about 14% of its overall staff, with most of the reductions in its research group. It is stepping back from novel target discovery and some preclinical work to concentrate on translational work and its PRMT5 programmes, vopimetostat and TNG456. The filing does not give a headcount or an expected cost.

EyePoint halves its workforce

EyePoint will cut about 53% of its workforce after the Phase 3 Lucia trial of Duravyu in wet AMD missed its primary endpoint, BioSpace reported on 19 October. Lucia did not show non-inferiority to Eylea on visual acuity, following a miss for the Lugano trial in August. EyePoint is ending both wet AMD trials early and turning to diabetic macular edema, where it expects two pivotal readouts in the fourth quarter.

Based on 214 employees at the end of February, BioSpace estimates about 113 people could be affected. Most of the reduction is expected in Q4 2026, finishing in the first half of 2027, with around $9 million in separation charges.

Foghorn after the Lilly programme

Foghorn is reducing its staff by about 40% after it and Eli Lilly stopped work on FHD-909 and the wider selective SMARCA2 programme, PharmExec reported on 2 October. Phase I dose-escalation data showed acceptable tolerability but not enough efficacy to move into expansion. Foghorn expects its cash to fund its priority programmes into the second half of 2029.

GSK in Belgium

Separately, up to 1,217 GSK roles in Belgium are at risk across R&D, manufacturing and support functions, Fierce Pharma reported on 14 October, following a report in L'Echo. GSK employs about 8,500 people in the country, including at its vaccines base in Wavre and its R&D centre in Rixensart. A GSK spokesperson tied the plan to the three-year programme the company set out in July, which targets £1.9 billion in annual savings by 2029.

The bigger picture

These are four different stories with a common thread. When a programme stops or a portfolio is narrowed, discovery and early research roles tend to go first. Across the industry the quarterly totals are low, but at company level a single readout can still halve a team.