Less than a month after promising data sent uniQure’s shares soaring, the company is disclosing significant layoffs to 65% of the company.
The new wave of cuts disclosed in the biotech’s second-quarter earnings report Thursday includes employees impacted by the recent sale of a Massachusetts manufacturing facility to Genezen. All told, the layoffs will include about 300 employees.
“These actions are designed to ensure we have the funding required to achieve key milestones and drive shareholder value, as we endeavor to deliver transformative medicines to patients in need,” CEO Matt Kapusta said in a release.
UniQure expects the layoffs to reduce the annual cash burn by about $75 million, including savings from interest after the retirement of $50 million in debt. Armed with a whopping $524 million, uniQure says its cash runway extends through the end of 2027. The job cuts are expected to be “substantially” completed in the fourth quarter.
UniQure previously laid off roughly 20% of its workforce in October 2023, with plans then to further its cash reserves into the second quarter of 2027.
The trimmed workforce will be tasked with advancing uniQure’s Huntington’s disease treatment, which has newfound momentum. The company reported last month that patients receiving the high dose of AMT-130 notched a statistically significant 80% slowing of disease progression compared to a natural history of patients. Kapusta suggested at the time that the company was considering shooting for an accelerated approval in the US.
UniQure expects to have a Type B meeting with the FDA in the second half of the year to lay out “the future clinical and regulatory pathway for AMT-130,” according to the earnings update.
It will be a busy few months for uniQure, which in addition to discussing AMT-130 and finalizing layoffs, plans to begin enrollment in three more mid-stage trials.