Apollomics execs lead job cuts as cancer biotech ekes out cash

Apollomics execs lead job cuts as cancer biotech ekes out cash

Apollomics is cutting two executives loose and narrowing the focus of a key clinical trial to delay the date cash constraints could bring it crashing back down to earth.

The Chinese-American biotech ended last year with enough cash to keep going through the first quarter of 2025. With the end of the cash runway now less than one year away, Apollomics is making changes to eke out its dwindling money mound. Apollomics CEO Guo-Liang Yu, Ph.D., didn’t have to look far to find positions to eliminate.

Sanjeev Redkar, Ph.D., Apollomics’ co-founder and president, and Peony Yu, M.D., the biotech’s chief medical officer, are the top two people heading for the exit. The pair are among Apollomics’ biggest shareholders but will transition to consulting roles in August. Apollomics, which ended 2023 with 45 full-time staffers, said “other employees” are also leaving.

The biotech disclosed the leadership changes alongside news of tweaks to its clinical development strategy. Apollomics’ phase 2 trial was testing vebreltinib, a c-MET inhibitor, in people with various types of MET-altered non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Under the revised plan, investigators will only enroll patients with MET amplification.

Apollomics still believes vebreltinib could treat a range of MET-altered tumors, Guo-Liang Yu said in a statement, but has chosen to focus “on the patient population with the greatest unmet medical need that can be addressed by MET inhibition.” The CEO framed the change as a way for the biotech to use its resources in the most efficient manner as it generates clinical data to support regulatory filings.

Apollomics expects the refocusing, “other cost reductions” in the NSCLC trial, layoffs and the completion of a study in China to result in significant reductions in ongoing operating expenses. The biotech predicts its cash will fund operations into the third quarter of 2025. Apollomics’ share price has fallen almost 97% over the past year, entering the year at close to a dollar and sinking to a Tuesday closing price of 19 cents.

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