Moving forward, Innate will focus on the clinical development of its antibody-drug conjugate IPH4502, the lymphoma candidate lacutamab and the AstraZeneca-partnered monalizumab.
Innate Pharma is laying off 30% of its workforce while putting its efforts and resources behind three of the company’s pipeline assets with the “highest potential” of delivering value both to patients and the biotech’s shareholders.
The streamlining initiative was spurred by what CEO Jonathan Dickinson called a “challenging funding environment” in a statement on Wednesday. For its efforts, the Marseille-based Innate expects to usher its three “most promising and highest-value clinical assets” through key milestones over the next 12 months, Dickinson added. As of June 30, 2025, Innate had €70.4 million (roughly $83.4 million) in cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and financial assets, a runway long enough to carry the company through the third quarter of 2026.
Innate had 181 full-time employees by the end of 2024, meaning around 54 people will be affected by the staffing cuts. The biotech expects to complete the layoffs during the first half of 2026.
The three candidates that Innate will prioritize are its antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) IPH4502, the lymphoma candidate lacutamab and the AstraZeneca-partnered monalizumab, which is being tested in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Innate is anticipating key catalysts for these three assets next year.
Designed to target the Nectin-4 protein, IPH4502 is an ADC that carries a topoisomerase I inhibitor and is being tested for solid tumors. According to the biotech’s release, the asset is currently undergoing Phase I testing, for which the first patient was dosed in January 2025. The early-stage study will assess the safety and preliminary efficacy of IPH4502 in patients with solid tumors including urothelial carcinoma, breast cancer, colorectal cancer and NSCLC.
Lacutamab is a monoclonal antibody that targets the KIR3DL2 protein, a protein found on certain T cells. Innate is advancing this asset in cutaneous T cell lymphoma, for which a Phase III study is being planned, and peripheral T cell lymphoma, in which lacutamab is undergoing Phase II testing.
Innate’s third priority asset moving forward is monalizumab, an anti-NGK2A antibody that it is testing in combination with AstraZeneca’s PD-L1 blocker Imfinzi in patients with stage III unresectable NSCLC. A Phase III study is underway with high-level data expected in the second half of next year.
