Despite executing “perfectly,” Octagon confronted a “scientific no-go,” CEO Isaac Stoner said in his LinkedIn post announcing the company’s impending closure.
Following the deprioritization of a lead B cell immunomodulator program and unresolved biology questions around a high-potential pipeline effort, Octagon Therapeutics is winding down operations, its CEO and co-founder announced Monday on LinkedIn.
“Over the past 7 years, we have made fundamental discoveries, pioneered new methods, built a talented team, and assembled a supportive investor base and Board of Directors,” CEO Isaac Stoner said in his LinkedIn post. “The toughest part about this business is that you can execute perfectly and still confront a scientific no-go.”
He added, “This decision is personally and professionally disappointing, and not the outcome that the patients we had hoped to serve deserved.”
The Providence, Rhode Island–based biotech, which also has lab space in Cambridge, Massachusetts, lists 13 “associated members” on its LinkedIn People page, indicating the closure could affect around a dozen employees.
Octagon was working to discover and develop medicines for patients with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. However, none of the programs in its listed pipeline have reached the investigational new drug stage. OCT50, intended to treat conditions including lupus and multiple sclerosis, was the most advanced part of the pipeline. That development candidate restored the endogenous role of Siglec-2, suppressing autoreactive B cells and resetting healthy immune functioning, according to Octagon.
While the company has been focused on autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, it initially worked to develop antibiotics for multidrug-resistant infections. Octagon’s drug discovery platform at that time was based on work done in co-founder Fred Ausubel’s lab at Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard University.
In 2022, the biotech announced a multiyear research collaboration with Novo Nordisk focused on inflammatory disease. Octagon said in the press release that it would apply its functional target discovery approach and novel chemistry strategy in disease areas where Novo had specific expertise.
Octagon had raised $14 million in funding, according to PitchBook.
