Ikena Oncology has hit another speed bump as it ends work on a Phase 1 oncology candidate and plans to slash its workforce by more than half.
It’s the Boston biotech’s second round of pipeline and employee cuts this year. Ikena is “evaluating strategic options” and will forge ahead with its only asset, a MEK-RAF molecular glue, it said in a Tuesday release.
The biotech will drop IK-930, an early-phase small molecule inhibitor that targets TEAD1 in the so-called Hippo signaling pathway. The discontinuation was due to current clinical data, available resources and its strategic priorities, the biotech said.
It will start winding down the Phase 1 trial, but treatment will continue for patients who have “derived benefit.” The 198-patient study — which has not yet finished recruiting patients, according to ClinicalTrials.gov — was investigating IK-930 as a monotherapy and in combination with AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso.
“Going forward, we believe that IK-930’s profile may enable combination opportunities with other targeted agents through partnerships,” CEO Mark Manfredi said in a statement.
The biotech had 43 full-time workers in March, and about 53% of its staff will be laid off this time because of the dropped oncology candidate. Ikena had already let go 35% of its workers in January after Bristol Myers Squibb walked away from their drug development alliance, which resulted in Ikena cutting two cancer assets.
The company’s stock $IKNA was up by as much as 20% after hours on Tuesday and is trading at $1.50 premarket Wednesday. At the end of March, Ikena had $157 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities.
The reorg will see Ikena focus on another Phase 1 candidate, IK-595, which works as a molecular glue to form a MEK-RAF therapeutic complex for patients with RAS and RAF mutant cancers where MEK inhibitors have not succeeded. The Phase 1 dose escalation trial is still recruiting with a target of 150 participants.
In a Wednesday note, TD Cowen analysts said IK-595 “strikes the perfect balance of target inhibition and half-life, and PK/PD data are supportive.” Takeda and Novo Nordisk have made deals this year in the increasingly hot molecular glue space.