Relay Therapeutics is laying off 10% of its staff, or about 30 employees, in an additional round of job cuts after a smaller downsizing in July.
A spokesperson for the biotech confirmed the layoffs in a statement to Endpoints News Thursday, saying the decision centered on “rationalizing the tools and on streamlining the teams to enable them to be more efficient.”
There have been no new program discontinuations that precipitated the move, a spokesperson said.
The new layoffs come less than a month after Relay brought in $200 million in new capital through a public offering. The raise was tied to encouraging data from its pan-mutant PI3Kα inhibitor, RLY-2608, showing that the treatment had a “clinically meaningful” improvement in progression-free survival for patients with breast cancer when combined with fulvestrant.
Following the Sept. 9 readout, Relay’s shares $RLAY jumped more than 50%. But those gains have since vanished. It hinted at the coming cuts with that announcement, saying there was “ongoing streamlining of the research organization.”
Earlier this summer, Genentech announced that it was handing back an SHP2 program to Relay after investing $120 million in the asset, which Relay said it would not continue to develop. Relay laid off about 5% of the team shortly after, though they were not a result of the axed collaboration, according to a Relay spokesperson.
The reductions come as the company is widening its pipeline outside of cancer, a move that will largely take shape next year. One such decision is aiming RLY-2608 at vascular malformations, defined by abnormal blood vessel development, with a clinical trial set to start in the first quarter of 2025. Relay also launched a preclinical program for Fabry disease and plans to launch a human trial in the second half of 2025.