Dive Brief:
- Ireland-based drugmaker Amarin said Tuesday it will lay off about 30% of its workforce, cutting back its U.S. salesforce and restructuring its operations in Europe as it struggles to sell its heart pill.
- Amarin will also replace its CEO. In a separate announcement, the company said its board of directors had appointed Patrick Holt to replace Aaron Berg as its chief executive and president. Berg, who filled the role on an interim basis in April, will retain a senior leadership position.
- Amarin was joined in announcing layoffs by FibroGen, which said Wednesday it would let go 32%, or 104, of its U.S. employees. The layoffs follow a clinical setback in June, when the biotech warned it was planning cuts.
Dive Insight:
More than 90 biotech companies have laid off staff this year, according to data compiled by BioPharma Dive. Funding challenges have forced many small- and mid-sized drugmakers to reduce their spending to keep the lights on, while the usual drumbeat of clinical, regulatory and commercial setbacks continue to pressure others.
The layoffs at Amarin aren’t the first restructuring the company has gone through. Last year, the company laid off 40% of its workforce due to competitive challenges to its heart drug Vascepa, which is used to lower cardiovascular risk and reduce levels of a type of fat that circulates in the blood.
While the company expected sales to take off following an expanded Food and Drug Administration approval, the invalidation of key patents led to the market entry of several generic rivals.
FibroGen, meanwhile, has also previously cut jobs, having laid off some of its staff in 2021 after the FDA rejected its anemia pill roxadustat. It started preparing for its latest restructuring after the clinical trial failure of a drug the company was testing for the lung disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Treatment did not improve lung health compared to a placebo, leading FibroGen to halt a second Phase 3 study in the disease. It was the third study setback for the company since May.
FibroGen employed 592 staff across the U.S. and China as of the end of January.
Additionally, Pieris Pharmaceuticals this week said it was cutting staff after AstraZeneca terminated a research partnership and discontinued a mid-stage study.