Artiva is cutting about 94% of its workforce after updated data showed AlloNK’s response did not last long enough to justify a planned Phase 3 trial. The move leaves nearly all employees facing layoffs and ends the company’s only program.
Fred Aslan on the losses
The company said it is abandoning AlloNK, its lead immunotherapy for rheumatoid arthritis, after longer-term data showed that durability of clinical response did not meet the threshold the Company required to support continued development. Fred Aslan said, “Throughout the development of AlloNK, the safety and well-being of patients have remained our highest priority. We are deeply saddened by the deaths of two patients who participated in our clinical studies and extend our sincere condolences to their families”.
In June, Artiva had 115 full-time employees and plans to grow, according to federal filings. Many of the layoffs are affecting employees at the company’s headquarters at 5505 Morehouse Drive in San Diego, and an official WARN notice detailing the cuts has not yet been filed.
Two deaths in Phase 2a
Two patients died in the clinical studies, and an investigator and an independent safety review board assessed both deaths. One Phase 2a trial participant suffered a fatal neurological event, leukoencephalopathy, following the study; the investigator determined that death was likely related to fludarabine. A second participant died suddenly approximately two months after initiating treatment, and the investigator ruled that death unrelated to AlloNK or any other component of the study regimen.
Artiva said AlloNK was initially effective in clinical trials, but the benefits did not last long enough to justify continued development. That is the break point for the company: early response was not enough to carry the program into Phase 3, so the pipeline is now down to a shutdown decision rather than a later-stage test of the drug.
319.1 million and a wind-down
Artiva held approximately $319.1 million in cash and investments as of Sept. 30, while it spent about $25 million last year. Of that spending, $11.8 million supported drug development and $10.8 million went toward personnel, a gap that looks very different once the only program is gone.
Noopur Batsha Liffick said, “We don’t have a specific timeline that we can share at this point. AlloNK was the only program we were developing, and now that we are no longer continuing development, we are exploring alternatives that maximize shareholder value”. Artiva said those alternatives include a sale, merger, or liquidation, and the next step will decide how the company turns remaining cash into value for shareholders.
