Laid off from BioMarin.

What BioMarin layoffs have meant for employees

Most of the employees affected by BioMarin's 2022 redesign worked in U.S. operations, the company told Fierce Biotech, and its year-end counts put all of 2024's net decline in the U.S. and Canada. Staff there went from 2,282 to 1,917, according to its 2023 annual report and its 2024 annual report, while the count outside North America went from 1,119 to 1,123. Research and development shrank more than any other function that year, falling from 807 to 635, while administration went from 550 to 475, sales and marketing from 535 to 458 and operations, the largest group, only from 1,509 to 1,472. Research was back up to 692 by the end of 2025, in the count the 2025 annual report gives. These are year-end snapshots, one set by region and one by function, so the changes between them are net figures that also reflect hiring and departures, and they can't say how many U.S. research jobs were cut. If you work for BioMarin in North America, they're still the company's own measure of where its headcount shrank in 2024.

Roctavian, the hemophilia A gene therapy, links several of these decisions, and its place in them changed. In 2022 part of the savings was set to go toward its U.S. launch, Fierce Biotech reported, and by August 2024 BioMarin was cutting jobs in connection with an updated strategy for the drug, as its August 2024 filing put it. When BioMarin withdrew the drug, most of the charges in the 2025 annual report were an inventory write-off and impairments of Roctavian's dedicated facilities, specialized equipment and intangible assets, and severance and related costs were a small part.

In 2022 and 2024, notice followed BioMarin's decisions within days. In each of those three rounds, most affected employees heard within five days of the company committing to the cut, by the dates in its October 2022 filing, its May 2024 filing and the August one, and each filing gave a range for severance and termination costs. The 2024 ranges ran low. Together they came to $45 million to $55 million, and the year's final tally in the 2024 annual report was $60.9 million.

Amicus told its staff in December 2025 that no decisions had been made about its Princeton, Marlow or Philadelphia offices, and that whether anyone could move to BioMarin's California headquarters would be part of integration planning, according to the Q&A Amicus filed with the deal. Most hiring was to pause in the meantime, apart from certain roles. After the deal closed, BioMarin's second-quarter release said it had identified cost reductions worth about half of what Amicus reported spending to operate in 2025, drawn from legacy labor and outside spending and largely in general and administrative functions, with the large majority of sales and marketing capabilities kept. If you came over from Amicus, the release puts general and administrative functions at the center of that target.

In Novato, a spokesperson told Fierce Pharma that the site would remain BioMarin's primary drug substance manufacturing site for Aldurazyme and Naglazyme, while activities tied to other products and facilities would be transferred, divested or decommissioned. For the activities tied to those other products and facilities, the outcomes the statement lists are transfer, divestment or decommissioning. If your BioMarin job ended in California, California unemployment benefits is one place to check how the state handles a claim, and for a job that ended in New Jersey there's New Jersey unemployment benefits.

A sourced history of BioMarin layoffs

• September 2026, Novato site consolidation

  A California notice set 117 job cuts at BioMarin's Novato site for December 4, Fierce Pharma reported, as it consolidates there into what a spokesperson called "a smaller, more focused site." The company promised "appropriate support" and severance under its policies.

• May 2026, Princeton layoffs at Amicus headquarters

  In May, shortly after the deal closed, BioMarin announced the 58-role layoff round that Fierce Pharma reported at Amicus Therapeutics' legacy Princeton headquarters. The New Jersey filing in our WARN tracker dates those layoffs from August 7.

• April 2026, Amicus integration restructuring plan

  BioMarin committed in April to an integration plan aimed at overlapping general and administrative personnel costs, in phases through April 2027, its second-quarter 10-Q says, and the plan's charges reached $53.1 million in the second quarter.

• First quarter 2026, organizational simplification plan

  To simplify its organizational design, BioMarin committed in the first quarter to global workforce cuts expected to be substantially done by the end of 2026, according to its second-quarter 10-Q, with $11.6 million in severance and termination charges through June.

• December 2025, Roctavian withdrawal

  After announcing in October that it would pursue options to divest Roctavian, BioMarin committed in December to withdraw it from the market, according to the 2025 annual report. Of $241.3 million in charges, $3.5 million covered severance and related costs.

• August 2024, about 225 jobs in organizational redesign

  BioMarin committed on August 23 to cut about 225 jobs, tied in its 8-K filing to redesign, an updated Roctavian strategy and dropping BMN 293. Staff heard by August 28, with severance and termination costs put at $30 million to $35 million.

• May 2024, about 170 jobs after an R&D review

  After a review of its research programs, BioMarin committed on May 9 to cut about 170 jobs as it dropped some, its 8-K filing says. Most heard May 14; it put severance and termination costs at $15 million to $20 million.

• October 2022, about 120 jobs in organizational redesign

  BioMarin's board committed on October 4 to a redesign cutting about 120 jobs and expected to save about $50 million a year, its 8-K filing says. Most of the reductions were announced to employees on October 6.

What to do if you're laid off from BioMarin

• File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. BioMarin's biggest hubs: California, New Jersey. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
• Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what BioMarin's hub states run: California, New Jersey, and every other state is here.
• Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
• Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
• Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.