Layoffs
Unfortunately, this makes Amgen yet another major biopharma company to exit or slim down work on neurological diseases. Others include Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca.
The company will discontinue development of its lead T-cell asset, ATIR101, halt its ongoing Phase III trial and lay off half its staff.
Halozyme Therapeutics will halt development of a metastatic pancreatic cancer drug after it failed to demonstrate an improvement in overall survival in a Phase III trial.
Cyclerion Therapeutics had a tough day, announcing the failure of two separate clinical trials for the same drug on the same day.
Acorda Therapeutics will terminate approximately 25% of its headcount as the company initiates a corporate restructuring only weeks after being snubbed by the U.S. Supreme Court over a patent appeal for multiple sclerosis drug Ampyra.
According to the report, the majority of the cuts will occur in the company’s Human Health Division and are expected to begin Jan. 3 and conclude Jan. 16, 2020.
The facility is expected to close by the end of 2020, affecting 270 staffers, with 80 possible redundancies.
Five Prime Therapeutics will eliminate 70 jobs as the company undergoes a restructuring to extend its cash runway. Five Prime said the restructuring plan will save an estimated $20 million in annualized cost savings.
BioSpace scanned the WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) notices across the country and compiled a small list of recent layoffs across the industry.
Less than a month after its Phase III brain cancer treatment failed, San Diego-based Tocagen is undergoing a company restructuring and will reduce its workforce by approximately 65%, the company announced late Thursday.
PRESS RELEASES
