Calithera Biosciences (NASDAQ: CALA) shares are falling premarket on Monday after the company reported that its CANTATA study of telaglenastat in patients with advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) failed to achieve its primary endpoint.
Calithera shares are trading 51.32% lower at $2.39.
The San Francisco-based biotechnology company said that compared to cabozantinib treatment, the combination of telaglenastat and cabozantinib did not meet the primary endpoint of improving progression-free survival (PFS) in the study population.
“We are disappointed that the CANTATA trial did not achieve its primary endpoint, particularly on behalf of the people living with advanced RCC, many of whom could benefit from additional treatment options with novel mechanisms of action to address this difficult-to-treat disease,” said Susan Molineaux, president and CEO of Calithera.
The news means the company will make a 35% reduction in its workforce.
Calithera expects cash, cash equivalents and investments to be approximately $115 million at December 31, 2020, based on preliminary estimates, which it believes will be sufficient to meet its current operating plan through 2022.
The anticipated one-time severance charge through the workforce reduction is expected to be $1.3-1.5 million.
The company said it will now focus its financial resources on its ongoing KEAPSAKE trial, assessing the arginase inhibitor CB-280 in cystic fibrosis patients.