Talaris Therapeutics was already put on life support back in February, when the biotech axed two kidney transplant trials along with a third of its staff. Now, the company is letting go of 95% of remaining employees.
Talaris Therapeutics is shifting its focus and its pipeline in a restructuring initiative that includes cutting its workforce by one-third.
In the Thursday morning announcement, the biotech stated it will also drop two trials studying its lead candidate, FCR001, in kidney transplant recipients. Talaris cited the pace of enrollment and the associated timeline to critical milestones as the motivation behind its decision.
The biggest biotech IPO of 2021 belongs to a cell therapy developer that has yet to reach the clinic. Cell therapy and artificial intelligence were hot categories of newly public companies, but even though IPOs reached record levels this year that streak is not expected to continue in 2022.
On the heels of a successful $150 million IPO in May, and with promising clinical data in hand, Talaris Therapeutics is experiencing rapid growth. The Louisville, Kentucky-based biopharma company, a member of BioSpace’s NextGen Bio ‘Class of 2020’, is developing a one-time cell therapy that could enable kidney transplant patients to ditch their immunosuppression medications.
Another day, another biotech IPO. This time, it's cell therapy player Talaris Therapeutics, which raised $150 million in a Nasdaq debut to fuel the company's lead asset, an off-the-shelf cell therapy it hopes will transform the standard of care in organ transplant, as well as some disorders of the blood, immune system and metabolism.
Two weeks after announcing plans for initial public offerings, Gyroscope Therapeutics and Talaris Therapeutics have now set the terms for their debut on the Nasdaq. Both companies expect to secure more than $100 million from their IPOs.
A stem cell biotech, a liver disease specialist and a gene therapy company have all got in the conga line for the biotech IPO boom.
Phase 3 stem cell transplantation biotech Talaris Therapeutics (once known as Regenerex until a name change two years ago) wants $100 million, as too does U.K.-based biotech Gyroscope Therapeutics, while liver disease and cancer biotech Sagimet Biosciences wants a slightly more modest $75 million.