Ellison Medical Institute Announces Major Layoffs

The Ellison Medical Institute — a cancer research center funded by tech mogul Larry Ellison — will cut a chunk of its staff in a couple of months. The Los Angeles-based research center, led by its founding chief executive and oncologist, David Agus, plans to permanently lay off 88 employees in January, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed Nov. 4 (1). The institute describes itself as a medical research and development center focused on artificial intelligence, molecular analytics and interdisciplinary disease research and treatment, with preventative medicine and cancer clinics, research laboratories and community education programs (1). [1]

The Ellison Medical Institute did not respond to requests for comment on the reasons for the layoffs (1). Ellison has long focused on cancer research and has made substantial donations to the cause. In his Oracle AI World 2026 keynote speech, Ellison said AI will make most cancers 'gone in five years, and certainly in 10' (1). In 2016, Ellison donated $200 million to USC to build the interdisciplinary medical center focused on cancer (1). [1]

Ellison Medical Institute’s layoffs come as other medical institutes, hospitals and healthcare providers in Los Angeles have also implemented layoffs and cutbacks. Kaiser Permanente has plans to cut 147 business and administrative jobs across California, with layoffs starting Nov. 20 (1). According to a state employment report filed Sept. 21, the reductions affect 16 locations, including 21 employees in Los Angeles County (1). [1]

The Ellison Medical Institute — a cancer research center funded by tech mogul Larry Ellison — will cut a chunk of its staff in a couple of months. The Los Angeles-based research center, led by its founding chief executive and oncologist, David Agus, plans to permanently lay off 88 employees in January, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed Nov. 4 (1). The institute describes itself as a medical research and development center focused on artificial intelligence, molecular analytics and interdisciplinary disease research and treatment, with preventative medicine and cancer clinics, research laboratories and community education programs (1). [1]

The Ellison Medical Institute did not respond to requests for comment on the reasons for the layoffs (1). Ellison has long focused on cancer research and has made substantial donations to the cause (1). In his Oracle AI World 2026 keynote speech, Ellison said AI will make most cancers 'gone in five years, and certainly in 10' (1). In 2016, Ellison donated $200 million to USC to build the interdisciplinary medical center focused on cancer (1). [1]

The institute has also been active in drug development. In June, it signed an exclusive license with UniQuest, the commercialization company of the University of Queensland in Australia, to advance a new prostate cancer treatment. The drug could reach first-in-human trials as early as 2027, according to a news release (1). In 2025, the institute announced a research partnership with Salt AI, a Los Angeles-based company offering AI-powered tools for drug design (1). [1]

The Ellison Medical Institute — a cancer research center funded by tech mogul Larry Ellison — will cut a chunk of its staff in a couple of months. The Los Angeles-based research center, led by its founding chief executive and oncologist, David Agus, plans to permanently lay off 88 employees in January, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed Nov. 4 (1). The institute describes itself as a medical research and development center focused on artificial intelligence, molecular analytics and interdisciplinary disease research and treatment, with preventative medicine and cancer clinics, research laboratories and community education programs (1). [1]

The Ellison Medical Institute did not respond to requests for comment on the reasons for the layoffs (1). Ellison has long focused on cancer research and has made substantial donations to the cause. In his Oracle AI World 2026 keynote speech, Ellison said AI will make most cancers 'gone in five years, and certainly in 10' (1). In 2016, Ellison donated $200 million to USC to build the interdisciplinary medical center focused on cancer (1). [1]

The institute has also been active in drug development. In June, it signed an exclusive license with UniQuest, the commercialization company of the University of Queensland in Australia, to advance a new prostate cancer treatment. The drug could reach first-in-human trials as early as 2027, according to a news release (1). In 2025, the institute announced a research partnership with Salt AI, a Los Angeles-based company offering AI-powered tools for drug design (1). [1]

Ellison Medical Institute’s layoffs come as other medical institutes, hospitals and healthcare providers in Los Angeles have also implemented layoffs and cutbacks. Kaiser Permanente has plans to cut 147 business and administrative jobs across California, with layoffs starting Nov. 20 (1). Last year, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles laid off 5.8% of its staff as a result of outside pressures, including reduced Medi-Cal reimbursement rates (1). [1]

Sources

LA Times: Business

Prepared with AI assistance from the cited sources.