Apollomics is making major cost cuts and leadership changes to stay afloat.
The oncology biotech announced Wednesday morning that co-founder and president Sanjeev Redkar and chief medical officer Peony Yu will leave their roles in August. They will continue to consult for the company.
The leadership changes are “a result of the updated strategic focus and aligned with the company’s resource needs going forward,” Apollomics said in a press release.
A spokesperson confirmed to Endpoints News that there are layoffs at the company but did not elaborate on how many staff will be let go.
Apollomics is also restricting a Phase 2 solid tumor study of its lead candidate, vebreltinib, a c-MET inhibitor, to non-small cell lung cancer with Met amplification. The company said that it will continue to follow patients in the study who are already enrolled in other solid tumor cohorts.
Vebreltinib has conditional approval in China for MET exon 14 skipping non-small cell lung cancer. Avistone Biotechnology holds the rights to the drug in China, Hong Kong and Macau, while Apollomics holds rights to vebreltinib everywhere else in the world.
The company listed on the Nasdaq in March 2023 via a SPAC deal with Maxpro Capital Acquisition Corp. On its first day, Apollomics’ opening shares were $18.60 apiece but have since fallen to 20 cents a share.
Apollomics said its operational expenses are set to decline by over 50% following severance and wind-down payments, and that it now expects its runway to last into the third quarter of next year.