Novartis is planning another round of cuts at its U.S. headquarters in New Jersey.

In a filing with the state Department of Labor & Workforce Development, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant reported it will eliminate 322 positions at its East Hanover base in October.

This marks the fourth time this year that Novartis will slim down its New Jersey operations.

The company disclosed the first three rounds of layoffs in March, April and May, affecting 114, 60 and 76 employees, respectively. All cuts are effective this year.

So far, the downsizing has impacted sales teams for areas such as rare disease medicines, oncology, dermatology, rheumatology and neuroscience, as well as the company’s biomedical research arm.

“Novartis continually evaluates opportunities to align our organization with evolving patient, customer and business needs. As part of this, we are making changes across our Field Sales, Patient Support and Marketing organizations to enhance operational efficiency and ensure we are investing resources where they can have the greatest impact. As a result, some roles are impacted,” a Novartis spokesperson shared with NJBIZ.

“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,” the representative added.

Shifting focus

Since unveiling a restructuring plan in 2022, Novartis has cut more than 1,000 jobs in New Jersey over multiple waves as it works to reshape its medicines business. The company has said it ultimately expects to phase out approximately 8,000 positions globally – or about 7% of its global workforce.

At the same time, Novartis is focused on boosting its domestic manufacturing capabilities.

The company recently reported progress on its April 2025 commitment to invest $23 billion over the next five years to increase its U.S. footprint. According to Novartis, development is underway on several new facilities that will support its goal of producing 100% of key medicines domestically.

Novartis is also busy strengthening its drug pipeline to offset patent expirations of heart medicine Entresto and plaque psoriasis biologic Cosentyx. The company has warned that profits would decline as some of its best-selling drugs lose their protections.

Earlier this week, the pharma unveiled it plans to acquire Myricx Bio in a deal that’s worth up to $1.5 billion.

Other recently announced buys and their value include:

• Antares Therapeutics up to $1.9 billion
• Excellergy up to $2 billion
• Pikavation Therapeutics up to $3 billion
• Avidity Biosciences $12 billion

Editor’s note: This story was updated shortly after publication, at 2:23 p.m. July 7, 2026, to include a statement from Novartis.