You can add Epizyme to the roster of biotechs reorganizing and downsizing — in staff and R&D projects — in the face of a brutal bear market attack.
The biotech put out word today that it has brought out the ax to chop off 12% of its staff, without specifying the numbers. That should be good for approximately $3 million in cost reductions.
Epizyme is also shelving two studies: “Tazemetostat in combination with rituximab (SYMPHONY-2, EZH-1401), as well as its Phase 1/1b basket study evaluating tazemetostat combinations in patients with solid tumors (EZH-1301),” reads the latest business update today covering 2021 results.
“The decision to discontinue enrollment in these studies was based on evolving market dynamics and a continued focus on optimizing the Company’s investments and eliminating potentially overlapping studies. The Company continues to study tazemetostat in combination with other therapies for both hematologic and solid tumor malignancies, both in ongoing Company-sponsored studies as well as investigator-initiated studies.”
Epizyme CEO Robert Bazemore exited the company last August, handing the reins to Grant Bogle, a board director and former exec of Tesaro.
He got out as the biotech’s market cap $EPZM was steadily being chewed up, now down 85% for the past year, with another dip coming this morning. The biotech raised $85 million in a rough market in January, which with today’s cuts will give it a cash runway that leads to Q3 of next year. They also reported $11.6 million in revenue from Q4 on the Tazverik franchise.
By: John Carroll (EndPoints News).
Image: LinkedIn.
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