Cancer drug developer Karyopharm Therapeutics is reducing its workforce and streamlining its clinical development plan, joining a list of nearly 100 other drugmakers to turn to layoffs in 2023.
Alongside second quarter earnings on Wednesday, Karyopharm announced plans to lay off about 20% of its staff, a decision that affects full-time employees as well as contractors. The company had 385 employees as of Feb. 10, according to a regulatory filing.
The cost cuts come amid a push by Karyopharm to broaden use of its only marketed medicine, Xpovio, and position the company for “sustained growth,” it said in a statement.
Xpovio was initially approved in 2019 for use in multiple myeloma and, the following year, a form of lymphoma. But those approvals were won at a time of rising competition in the development of drugs for those blood cancers. Multiple cell therapies and so-called bispecific antibodies have come to markets since, and more are in development.
In the meantime, Xpovio sales have grown slowly, totaling roughly $76 million, $98 million and $120 million in its first three full years on the market. The company had a net loss of $165 million last year. Company shares have lost more than 90% of their value since 2020.
Karyopharm aims to bounce back by winning approvals of Xpovio in other indications, but has hit setbacks along the way. Last year, the Food and Drug Administration rejected an approval request in endometrial cancer and asked for another trial.
The cost cuts, along with an amended financing deal with Healthcare Royalty Partners, will give Karyopharm more breathing room. The company is expecting results from its newer endometrial cancer study in late 2024 or early 2025. It’s also anticipating a readout from a Phase 3 trial in myelofibrosis in 2025.
The restructuring moves will “optimize our cost structure and workforce to maximize the potential of these programs,” said president and CEO Richard Paulson, in a statement. It now has enough cash to operate into late 2025.