BUZZ-Impact of NIH job cuts "better than feared" for life sciences firms, Leerink says

** The job cuts at the National Institutes of Health is "better than feared" signaling a "less bad" year compared to prior expectations for tools and diagnostics firms, brokerage Leerink Partners says

** The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will cut about 10,000 full-time jobs and close half of its regional offices, and the NIH will see a reduction of 1,200 employees across its 27 institutes and centers

** "Anything less than feared is a positive for the NIH and US academic spending sentiment, which remains at an all-time low," Leerink analysts say

** The brokerage previously said it sees the worst sales impact for life sciences technology firms 10x Genomics TXG.O and Quanterix QTRX.O in Q1 on expected cost cuts at the NIH

** "The proposed 1,200 cuts is significantly below the 3,500-5,000 previously reported and should reduce the burden of working through the grant backlog created by a temporary pause in advisory council meetings"- Leerink

** However, the brokerage added that while the FY25 outlook is looking modestly improved, FY26 remains uncertain for life sciences technology firms

(Reporting by Sneha S K)

((Sneha.SK@thomsonreuters.com;))