TScan Therapeutics is looking for strategic partnerships for its heme and autoimmune programs while working to advance two in vivo T cell therapy candidates into investigational new drug–enabling studies.
As part of a strategic reorganization that includes pausing its heme malignancies program and prioritizing its in vivo solid tumor program, TScan Therapeutics is slashing 75% of its workforce, the company announced Sept. 2. The Waltham, Massachusetts–based biotech had 138 employees as of Aug. 7, according to its most recent quarterly report, meaning the cuts could affect around 104 people.
This is the second set of known layoffs at TScan in less than a year. In November 2025, the company announced it was letting go of 30% of its staff, or 66 employees, as it refocused its pipeline to extend its cash runway into the second half of 2027. The latest workforce cut includes letting go of Jason Amello, chief financial officer, and Chrystal Louis, chief medical officer, effective Sept. 2, according to an SEC filing.
In connection with its strategic reorganization, TScan, which develops T cell receptor–engineered T cell (TCR-T) therapies for the treatment of cancer, is pursuing strategic partnerships for its heme and autoimmune programs. It is also eliminating its internal manufacturing organization and significantly reducing its research footprint.
Moving forward, TScan will work to advance two in vivo candidates into investigational new drug (IND)–enabling studies. One targets PRAME, the preferentially expressed antigen in melanoma, and the other MAGE-A4, another melanoma-associated antigen. TScan expects to share preclinical data for those candidates in the first quarter of 2027, file its first IND application in the third quarter of 2027 and initiate Phase 1 development in the fourth quarter of 2027.
In its announcement, the biotech noted that it expects its in vivo engineering approach will overcome the key limitations of ex vivo–engineered autologous TCR-T therapies, including the cost and difficulty of patient-specific manufacturing, the delay in getting product to patients and the need for lymphodepletion.
As TScan turns its attention to its in vivo solid tumor program, the company is pausing further enrollment in the Phase 3 ALLOHA-2 study of lead asset TSC-101 due to having insufficient capital to complete the trial. However, the biotech will continue tracking the seven patients already enrolled in ALLOHA-2’s treatment arm and the 13 patients in Cohort C of the Phase 1 ALLOHA study. TScan expects to report updated data on Cohort C patients in the fourth quarter of this year.
The biotech expects to substantially complete its strategic reorganization by the end of the year, incurring about $4.1 million in employee-related costs that consist mostly of pay continuation and related benefits. TScan believes the reorganization, including the workforce reduction, will save $55 million through the end of 2027. It expects the cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities it had on hand as of June 30, 2026, to fund planned operations into Q4 2027.
