The company is announcing significant redundancies and staff lay-offs in a bid to satisfy its investors, slashing jobs by 73%. Credit: Shutterstock / Andrii Yalanskyi

California-based biotech, IGM Biosciences, has put a halt to the development of two of its autoimmune disease therapies, imvotamab and IGM-2644, after Phase I trials saw disappointing results prompting lay-offs.

Now, the company is announcing significant redundancies and staff lay-offs in a bid to satisfy its investors, slashing jobs by 73% after reporting cash and investments of approximately $183.8 million in December last year.

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Imvotamab is an immunoglobin M-based CD20 X CD3 bispecific antibody T cell engager, while IGM-2644 is an IgM-based CD38 X CD3 bispecific antibody T cell engager. Both therapies, which were under development for autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus, have been removed from development after the company announced that Phase I results (NCT05908396) didn’t meet the company’s criteria for success as it looks for alternative methods of recouping its costs from development.

Mary Beth Harler, chief executive officer of IGM Biosciences, said: “Interim data from the Phase Ib studies of imvotamab in rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus show that the depth and consistency of B cell depletion is insufficient to meet our high bar for success. Due to these findings, we have decided to discontinue further development of imvotamab.

“Concurrent with discontinuation of the imvotamab program, IGM-2644 is also being terminated due to strategic considerations,” Harler added.

Since the announcement, the company’s stock value has plummeted from $6.20 per share at market close on January 8 to $1.86 in premarket trading – a drop of 70%.

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Harler concluded: “I want to thank our colleagues who will be departing from IGM as part of the restructuring and acknowledge their many contributions to our programmes. We are grateful for their support and wish them all the best in their future endeavours.”

Elsewhere in the world of failed trials, biotech Denali Therapeutics has reported that a Phase II/III trial of DNL343 for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) failed to meet its primary endpoint. Meanwhile, XBiotech’s stock price took a hit after it announced a complete halt to its clinical programme in rheumatology after a Phase II study of its arthritis treatment, Natrunix, failed to meet its primary endpoint.