Amidst a successful conclusion to the 2024 JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, biotech and pharma layoff numbers are on a consistent rise with PMV Pharmaceuticals and Ikena Oncology being the latest to follow pharma giant Bayer’s recent restructuring plans.

PMV Pharmaceuticals plans to fire 30% of its workforce in a bid to free capital that will go towards the development of its lead tumour agnostic therapy PC14586.

As per the New Jersey-based company, the strategic restructuring will extend PMV’s cash runway until the end of 2026 and will allow the company to focus on discovery research efforts and prioritise initiation of a Phase II clinical study of p53 reactivator PC14586 that is slotted for commencement in Q1 2024.

The precision oncology company’s latest restructuring follows a March 2023 pipeline optimisation effort, in which the company announced that its WIP-1 inhibitor and R273H mutation-targeting programs had been shelved to drive the development of its lead candidate.

Also riding the layoff wave is Bayer, which recently unveiled a new operating model called “Dynamic Shared Ownership” (DSO) which will see “significant staff reductions” as a result of the newly implemented regulations. The company plans to begin job cuts in the coming months and expects to conclude the process by the end of 2025.

“Our new operating model is designed to make Bayer faster and more innovative. However, its introduction will come at the expense of many managerial employees,” Dr. Barbara Gansewendt, Chairwoman of the Bayer AG Group Executives’ Committee said in a 17 January press release.

The pharma giant did not provide a quantifiable scale of the impending layoffs.

On 18 January, Ikena Oncology also revealed that it will jettison 35% of its workforce in in order to prioritise resources for its clinical stage cancer programs, IK-930 and IK-595. The company anticipates completing the restructuring by 31 March 2024.