Sana Biotechnology Will Lay Off Employees as It Shifts Pipeline - BioSpace

Nov 06, 2024

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As a result of a pipeline shift and other changes intended to extend its cash runway, Sana Biotechnology is laying off employees, the company announced Nov. 4. The Seattle-based company did not specify the number of cuts, when they will occur or which sites are affected. The biotech has locations in Seattle, San Francisco and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

As of Dec. 31, Sana had 328 employees, 251 of whom were involved in research and development activities, according to a February SEC filing.

The layoff news comes roughly a year after Sana downsized its staff by about 120 employees—29%—as it focused resources on its hypoimmune platform. That October 2023 workforce reduction was preceded by layoffs of an unknown number of staff in August 2023.

In the Nov. 4 announcement, Sana shared it will suspend development of SC291, its CD19-directed allogeneic CAR T cell therapy, in oncology while prioritizing the candidate’s future development in B cell–mediated autoimmune diseases (AID). The company will also cut SC379, its glial progenitor cell program. Sana is seeking a licensing partner to help advance SC291 in oncology and is hoping to spin out SC379 into a new company, according to the announcement.

The biotech noted that it will use the cash savings from these pipeline changes to increase investment in its type 1 diabetes program.

“Greater focus on type 1 diabetes, SC291 in AID, and SC262 in refractory blood cancers will enhance our ability to present robust clinical data over the next twelve to eighteen months,” Steve Harr, Sana’s president and CEO, said in the Nov. 4 announcement.

The company also expects the changes to extend its cash runway into 2026. The biotech has incurred annual operating losses since inception and expected such losses to continue into the foreseeable future, according to an August SEC filing. Sana had an accumulated deficit of $1.5 billion as of June 30.

Sana anticipates proof of concept data for UP421, part of its type 1 diabetes program, in 2024 and/or 2025. An investigator-sponsored trial is exploring whether Sana’s hypoimmune platform (HIP) modifications to allogeneic primary islet cells can enable immune evasion and overcome transplant rejection in type 1 diabetes.

The biotech is also continuing preclinical development of SC451, an HIP-modified, stem-cell derived therapy for type 1 diabetes patients.