As biotechs attempt to turn a fresh page in August, at least three companies have shed staff in attempts to forge on.
First up is gene therapy company UniQure. The business is undergoing an organizational restructuring designed to streamline operations, according to an Aug. 1 release on the company's second-quarter financial results.
The streamlining strategy is expected to slash global headcount by 65%, or 300 roles—cuts that include the recent sale of a Massachusetts manufacturing facility to Genezen. That sale is also tied to the departure of Chief Operating Officer Pierre Caloz, who helped UniQure establish commercial manufacturing capabilities for Hemgenix, an approved hemophilia B gene therapy.
Amin Abujoub, Ph.D., who previously served as the biopharma’s chief quality officer, is taking on the new role of chief technical operations officer, which will include global oversight of contract manufacturers.
The restructure is expected to be complete in the fourth quarter of this year and slash recurring costs by 40%, or $75 million annually. As of June 30, UniQure had $524 million on hand, money expected to stretch to the end of 2027, according to the company release.
“These actions are designed to ensure we have the funding required to achieve key milestones and drive shareholder value, as we endeavor to deliver transformative medicines to patients in need,” uniQure CEO Matt Kapusta said in the release.
Some of those milestones center around AMT-130, the company’s investigational gene therapy for Huntington’s disease. The asset is currently being studied in a phase 1/2 trial, with a recent interim data drop revealing a slowing in disease progression.
The FDA also granted the candidate regenerative medicine advanced therapy designation, and UniQure expects to meet with the FDA in the second half of this year about potentially pursuing an expedited clinical development path, according to Kapusta.
Clinical-stage Arbutus Biopharma follows suit, with a “decision to streamline the organization” to advance two clinical programs, leaving a mid-stage trial and 40% of staff in its wake.
The layoffs will mainly impact discovery roles, plus general and administrative functions, according to an Aug. 1 release on second-quarter financial results.
Arbutus will zero in on phase 2b development of imdusiran, an RNA interference therapeutic made to reduce hepatitis B virus (HBV) viral proteins and antigens, as well as AB-101, an oral PD-L1 inhibitor being evaluated in an early-stage trial for chronic HBV.
Meanwhile, the company will discontinue HBV research efforts and a phase 2a clinical trial dubbed IM-PROVE III. The study was assessing imdusiran in combination with anti-PD-L1 durvalumab, among patients with chronic HBV. The study had an estimated enrollment of 30 patients and expected readout slated for 2027, according to ClinicalTrials.gov. This decision to terminate the trial was “based on a prioritization of resources and the projected availability of clinical data from this trial,” according to the company's release.
The reorganization is expected to extend the company’s cash runway into the final quarter of 2026.
It’s the second layoff round within a year for the biotech. In November 2023, the company let go of 24% of its team after redirecting money for research programs toward clinical efforts.
Last up today is Takeda spinout HilleVax. The vaccine-focused biotech revealed a 40% workforce reduction after market close yesterday. The layoffs will impact about 41 employees and is designed to reduce operating costs.
The move is made so HilleVax can explore “the potential for continued development of its HIL-214 and HIL-216 norovirus vaccine candidates, as well as business development-related activities for these vaccine candidates,” according to the July 31 release.
In early July, HIL-214—the company’s sole clinical-stage candidate—failed a phase 2b trial in norovirus-related acute gastroenteritis.
The virus-like particle-based vaccine missed all primary and secondary endpoints of the study which included more than 2,800 infants, showing an efficacy of just 5%.