California-based immunotherapy biotech Atreca has announced its second corporate reorg in recent history, with the goal of reducing expenses and extending its cash runway.
Atreca's cost-saving measures will include suspending development of its lead asset, ATRC-101, and reducing its workforce by approximately 40%.
The company recently shared data from the ongoing phase 1b study of ATRC-101 in patients with select advanced solid tumors, supporting the asset's observed safety and tolerability profile as well as the correlation between longer progression-free survival and high target expression. Now, according to Atreca CEO, the asset is now available for purchase. "We believe that the best path forward for the asset is with a larger partner, and as a result, we are suspending development and evaluating potential out-licensing opportunities."
Atreca's plan going forward is to instead focus on advancing current preclinical ADC candidates, including APN-497444. The move comes as ADCs experience an explosive renaissance, ripe with licensing deals and big-ticket acquisitions. The early-stage APN-497444 program is an Atreca-discovered antibody targeting a novel, tumor-specific glycan. Atreca is targeting an IND submission in late 2024/early 2025.
This is the second major reorg initiated by Atreca recently. Last June, the biotech reduced its workforce by more than 25% in an effort to extend its cash runway through 2023.
