Lava, smoldering from dropping lead asset, lays off 30% of staff to save cash

With Lava Therapeutics still smoldering from the decision to dump its lead blood cancer drug, the biotech is now laying off 30% of its staff in an effort to conserve cash.

Since deciding in December that its bispecific gamma delta T-cell engager had not reached the company’s “internal benchmarks,” Lava has shifted focus to LAVA-1266, a CD123-targeting T-cell engager initially focused on acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).