The strategic initiative will extend Metagenomi’s cash runway into the fourth quarter of 2027. That same year, the company expects to generate initial Phase I data for its lead asset MGX-001 in hemophilia A.
Metagenomi is parting ways with 25% of its employees. The move is part of a strategic reorientation effort designed to throw more support behind its hemophilia A program MGX-001 and extend its cash runway for a few more quarters.
The so-called “strategic evolution” of Metagenomi, announced Tuesday alongside the company’s third-quarter results, will also include the departure of its CEO Brian Thomas, who will nevertheless stay with the biotech as a member of its board of directors. Succeeding Thomas is Jian Irish, currently the president of Metagenomi.
Following these business adjustments, Metagenomi now expects its runway, which as of Sept. 30 was at $184.1 million, to extend into the fourth quarter of 2027. In its Q2 report, the company put its cash position at $205 million, which at the time it said would be enough to keep it going into 2027.
Metagenomi stands out as one of the few biotechs that have gambled on an initial public offering in the past couple of years despite not having any asset in the clinic. The California company bet on joining the Nasdaq in early 2024, ultimately raising just under $94 million—slightly higher than its initial target of around $87 million.
Things have since turned sour for the company, however. Soon after its Nasdaq debut, Metagenomi’s stock crashed 31% as investors looked with skepticism at its preclinical offerings.
Then, in May that same year, Moderna pulled the plug on its gene editing partnership with Metagenomi, which could have meant up to $3 billion in payments to the startup. The companies inked their partnership in 2021 but kept details about indications under wraps. Weeks after the Moderna deal was terminated, Metagenomi’s then chief scientific officer Luis Borges left the company after just eight months on the job.
The biotech has nevertheless continued on, focused on the development of its lead asset MGX-001, which works by delivering a gene that encodes for the factor VIII clotting protein, in turn addressing the abnormally frequent and severe bleeding episodes in patients with hemophilia A. Metagenomi is proposing MGX-001 as a one-time therapy.
In its news release on Tuesday, Metagenomi said that it is “on track” to read out proof-of-concept data for MGX-001 in non-human primates this year. The company aims to file an investigational new drug application for the drug next year, enter the clinic in 2027 and generate initial Phase I data that same year, according to a company presentation.
