Less than a year after cutting roughly 30% of its employees, BioAtla is letting go of an even larger chunk of its workforce as it considers its future, which could include strategic partnerships and selling off assets.
As it explores strategic options, San Diego–based BioAtla is cutting about 70% of its workforce, retaining only those employees essential to its strategic review.
The news, announced Monday, comes less than a year after BioAtla cut 30% of its staff, a move meant to help the business extend its runway into the first half of 2026, according to a March 2025 SEC filing. The biotech, which develops biologic antibody therapeutics to treat solid tumors, was also looking to optimize expenses “to support development of its prioritized programs and set the Company up for long-term success.”
Among those out of jobs following the 70% workforce reduction is Chief Financial Officer Richard Waldon. According to an SEC filing, BioAtla terminated his employment effective March 2 and appointed Chief Accounting Officer Chris Vasquez as CFO and principal financial officer.
Strategic options the company is exploring include selling its five preclinical-stage and four clinical-stage assets as well as licensing transactions and strategic partnerships, according to the announcement. BioAtla’s clinical-stage pipeline includes ozuriftamab vedotin (Oz-V), a conditionally and reversibly active antibody drug conjugate that targets ROR2, a transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase present in various types of solid tumors.
Oz-V was at the center of the biotech’s last announcement in 2025. The company on Dec. 31 said it had a $40 million deal with GATC Health to advance the asset in a Phase 3 study in second-line or later treatment of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. The rare head and neck cancer starts in the squamous cells that line the oropharynx, or middle part of the throat.
BioAtla had cash and cash equivalents of about $7.1 million as of Dec. 31, according to Monday’s announcement, down from approximately $8.3 million on Sept. 30, as reported in a November SEC filing. The company estimated total cash payments related to the 70% workforce reduction will be between $500,000 and $600,000 in severance and benefits costs. BioAtla expects to pay most of those costs in the first quarter.
