Molecular Partners plans to lay off up to 44% of its staff as it focuses its declining cash reserves on a radiotherapeutic pipeline led by an early-phase small cell lung cancer drug candidate.
The layoffs could affect up to 55 positions. As required under Swiss law, the biotech is consulting with employees. Molecular Partners expects to fully implement the changes by the second quarter of 2027—and to feel the full effects of the reduction in costs in the second half of that year.
Zurich-based Molecular Partners ended September with 57.5 million Swiss francs ($69 million), a sum it predicts will fund operations into late 2027. The biotech has yet to estimate the financial impact from the restructuring because it is still assessing the specifics of affected employees. Molecular Partners aims to provide an estimate early next year.
The company is prioritizing a phase 1/2a study of its lead clinical candidate, MP0712, and advancing its broader pipeline of “Radio-DARPin” therapeutics. DARPins are small proteins that deliver radioactive payloads to cancer cells. The proteins, which Molecular Partners has also developed as standalone drugs, perform the same function as tumor-specific ligands in radiopharmaceuticals such as Novartis’ Pluvicto.
Molecular Partners has fully recruited the second dose level of the phase 1/2a study. The biotech expects to present initial safety data in December, with efficacy results set to follow in 2027. MP0712 engages the same target, DLL3, as bispecifics and antibody-drug conjugates, such as Amgen's Imdelltra and Zai Lab’s zocilurtatug pelitecan, respectively.
A second radiopharmaceutical program, MP0726, is advancing to first-in-human imaging in the second half of the year. The biotech has nominated MP0730, which targets CD70, as the third drug candidate in its radiopharmaceutical pipeline. MP0730 could enter first-in-human studies in mid-2027.
The radiopharmaceutical-focused pipeline reflects recent changes. One year ago, Molecular Partners was advancing the DLL3-directed radiopharmaceutical alongside the multispecific T-cell engager MP0533 and the bispecific MP0317. Now focused on radiopharmaceuticals, Molecular Partners will explore DARPins as immune cell engagers through strategic partnerships and “platform-derived spinout opportunities.”