Following challenges with its drug candidate bexotegrast and announcement of a limited-duration stockholder rights program, Pliant is paring back its workforce.
About two months after discontinuing the Phase IIb/III BEACON-IPF study of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis drug candidate bexotegrast, Pliant Therapeutics announced it is cutting roughly 45% of its workforce. The move is meant to help extend the San Francisco–based biotech’s cash runway to support execution of late-stage clinical trials. The company, which develops oral integrin inhibitors for fibrotic diseases, did not say how long that runway will last.
Pliant had 171 full-time employees—including 117 in research and development—as of Dec. 31, according to a March 3 SEC filing, meaning the cuts could affect about 77 employees. The biotech expects to mostly complete the layoffs by the end of the second quarter, incurring about $3.6 million in related costs, according to a May 1 SEC filing.
In February, Pliant voluntarily suspended dosing and enrollment in the Phase IIb/III BEACON-IPF study of bexotegrast following a prespecified data review by an independent data safety monitoring board. The company did not identify the reasons behind the board’s recommendation but noted that it was reviewing BEACON-IPF’s data to understand the rationale behind it.
Pliant in March announced it was discontinuing the trial following that review due to an imbalance in unadjudicated IPF-related adverse events between the treatment and placebo groups. The company also noted it would evaluate next steps for the drug candidate’s development and would consider additional dose-ranging Phase IIb studies in pulmonary fibrosis and potentially other nonrespiratory indications, including liver diseases. Pliant said Thursday it is awaiting topline data from the Phase IIb/III trial BEACON-IPF, which it expects to be available in the second quarter. Once it has that, it said, it will determine next steps for the drug’s development.
The biotech has also been dealing with financial challenges. In March, it announced a limited-duration stockholder rights program—also known as a “poison pill defense”—shortly after Kevin Tang’s Concentra Biosciences took a sizeable stake in the biotech. Pliant said the move was intended to reduce the likelihood of anyone gaining control of the business without paying stockholders an appropriate control premium. It also wanted the board to have “sufficient opportunity to make informed judgments and take actions that are in the best interests of all stockholders.”
According to the company’s May 1 SEC filing, it had a net loss of $210.3 million in 2024, up from net losses of $161.3 million and $123.3 million in 2023 and 2022, respectively. Pliant had $357.2 million in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments as of Dec. 31, 2024.
