California-based Tempest Therapeutics is laying off 21 of its 26 full-time employees. The cuts come while the biotech is exploring strategic alternatives, including a merger or acquisition, as it tries to move its investigational PPARα antagonist into late-stage development.
About a week after announcing it was eyeing strategic alternatives, including a merger or acquisition, Tempest Therapeutics disclosed it is cutting about 80% of its workforce. The Brisbane, California–based biotech is letting go of 21 of its 26 full-time employees effective April 30, according to an April 18 SEC filing. The company expects key staff will transition to consulting agreements.
Tempest expects to incur about $1.5 million in costs in connection with the workforce reduction, primarily in one-time severance payments, according to the filing.
On April 9, the company announced it was exploring strategic alternatives so it could advance clinical-stage programs and maximize stockholder value. Those programs include the PPARα antagonist amezalpat, which has FDA orphan drug and fast track designations for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and which the biotech deemed “Phase 3-ready” in the press release. In addition to a merger or acquisition, Tempest said it was also considering partnerships, licensing deals or joint ventures.
The biotech already has one partner for small-molecule drug amezalpat. In October, Tempest announced an agreement with Roche to study amezalpat in combination with Tecentriq and bevacizumab, which Roche markets under the brand name Avastin, for use in treating unresectable or metastatic HCC.
Tempest had a net loss of $41.8 million and an accumulated deficit of $207.1 million as of Dec. 31, 2024, according to a March 27 SEC filing. The biotech also noted it had cash and cash equivalents of $30.3 million at the end of last year. In a March 27 note to investors, William Blair analysts noted that the $30.3 million was only enough to cover “start-up costs” of a Phase III trial for amezalpat.