Foghorn to cut 40% of workforce after scrapping Lilly-partnered cancer drug

By Reuters News

Oct 1 (Reuters) - Foghorn Therapeutics FHTX.O said on Thursday it has discontinued development of an experimental cancer drug partnered with Eli Lilly LLY.N after it failed to show enough benefit in an early-stage trial.

The companies will not extend their 2021 partnership, originally valued at up to $1.6 billion, a decision that prompted Foghorn to cut about 40% of its workforce.

Shares of the biotech were down more than 48% in premarket trading.

  • The companies will not advance the drug, FHD-909, to the next stage of testing and will also discontinue a separate program targeting SMARCA2, a protein involved in controlling gene activity that some cancer cells depend on.

  • Foghorn said FHD-909 was generally safe, but its novel cancer-fighting approach did not deliver the effectiveness required to continue development.

  • FHD-909 was intended to treat certain lung and other solid tumours with changes in a cancer-related gene called SMARCA4.

  • The job cuts, expected to be completed in the fourth quarter, will leave Foghorn with about 65 employees, compared with 106 at the end of 2025, according to its latest annual report.

  • The company expects to record about $2.3 million in charges related to the layoffs.

  • Foghorn said it will focus on its own pipeline, including potential treatments for blood cancer, prostate cancer and hormone-sensitive breast cancer, as well as an experimental oral drug for inflammatory diseases.

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