For sale: one biotech, badly damaged. So starts what could be the final chapter in the story of Angion Biomedica. Weeks after halting a study over a potential safety signal, the biotech has decided to stop most of its development activities to preserve its $60 million-plus cash pile while it seeks strategic alternatives.
New York-based Angion has suffered three setbacks over the past year that have almost wiped out its clinical-phase pipeline. ANG-3777 fell by the wayside after failing two clinical trials, first a phase 2 study in COVID-19 patients and second, and more crucially, a phase 3 kidney transplant test. The failures led Angion to drop the hepatocyte growth factor mimetic.
In December, Angion sought to get back on track by moving the oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor ANG-3070 into a phase 2 kidney disease clinical trial. The study barely lasted six months. Late last month, Angion stopped the study after seeing “an unexpected and substantial decline in kidney function” and a lack of “any early treatment signal indicating a reduction in proteinuria” in the interim phase 2 data.
At that time, Angion still planned to study ANG-3070 in a phase 1 trial in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. However, the biotech has changed its position over the past few weeks, leading it to put out an update late Monday that it is open to a “merger, reverse merger, other business combination, sale of assets, licensing or other strategic transactions” and is hunkering down while it looks for a deal.
“In order to preserve as much of the over $60 million in cash and cash equivalents in place at the end of the second quarter, we are discontinuing development of ANG-3070 for all indications and discontinuing most other development activities pending conclusion of this process, plus taking other actions to immediately reduce cash burn to better position the company for this strategic alternatives process,” Angion CEO Jay Venkatesan said in a statement.
The biotech made deep cuts early in 2022, reducing its number of full-time employees from 71 at the end of December to 39 at the start of March. Angion also shrunk its roster of part-time consultants from 23 to 14. The latest actions will "impact the majority of Angion’s current 37 employees."
Editor's note: This story was updated with details of the new layoffs at Angion.