As it shifts focus to a death receptor 3 (DR3) antagonist antibody, Shattuck Labs is cutting a significant number of employees before the end of the year.
As part of a restructuring that includes discontinuing a clinical program, Shattuck Labs will lay off about 40% of its workforce, the company announced Oct. 1. The biotech expects to complete the layoffs in the fourth quarter but did not say which locations the cuts will affect. Shattuck’s corporate office is in Austin, while its R&D office is in Durham, North Carolina.
According to a February SEC filing, Shattuck had 75 full-time employees as of Dec. 31, 2023, which means the layoffs could affect about 30 people. However, the filing also noted the company might hire in 2024 and beyond to increase expertise and bandwidth in preclinical and clinical R&D, in-house process development and manufacturing as well as clinical operations to support potential later-stage clinical trials.
In its Oct. 1 announcement, Shattuck stated it’s discontinuing its clinical program, SL-172154, and will focus instead on SL-325, its death receptor 3 (DR3) antagonist antibody. Interim clinical data for SL-172154 in combination with azacitidine in TP53 mutant acute myeloid leukemia and higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes did not yield hoped-for results, according to the company. It noted only modest improvement in median overall survival compared with azacitidine monotherapy benchmarks.
“We thank our clinical team and investigators for conducting an excellent clinical study, yet we must accept this result as it stands and move on to other opportunities with a higher probability of success,” said Shattuck CEO Taylor Schreiber in the announcement.
Schrieber added that the company believes SL-325—meant to treat inflammatory bowel disease and other inflammatory autoimmune diseases—could be a first-in-class DR3 receptor blocking antibody.
Shattuck also announced the mutual termination of a licensing agreement with Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. The companies had been collaborating on preclinical development of certain compounds.
Based on the changes it’s making, Shattuck expects it can fund operations into 2027, beyond results from its planned Phase I clinical trial of SL-325, according to the announcement. In an Oct. 1 SEC filing, the company stated that due to those changes, it expects to incur restructuring charges between $1.5 million and $1.75 million. The company noted it should recognize those expenses in the fourth quarter. In addition, Shattuck stated it had a balance of about $105.3 million in cash, cash equivalents and investments as of June 30.
