Four months after laying off 60% of its workforce, Turnstone Biologics is planning further redundancies as the biotech gives up on its last remaining clinical-stage candidate due to manufacturing costs.
Turnstone had already narrowed the focus of the selected tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy in August 2024 to colorectal cancer, head and neck cancer and uveal melanoma, deprioritizing its work in cutaneous melanoma and breast cancer. Keeping money flowing to the stripped-back program, dubbed TIDAL-01, was the main reason for the hefty layoffs in October.
But now Turnstone is once again considering its limited options. What remains of TIDAL-1 will be discontinued, including all clinical studies involving the TIL therapy in solid tumors.
The company blamed manufacturing costs for pulling the plug on the program, with the biotech’s board exploring “strategic alternatives focused on maximizing shareholder value.”
“Manufacturing for our selected TIL therapy requires continued investment in process improvements,” Turnstone CEO Sammy Farah, Ph.D., said in a statement. “Due to these capital-intensive requirements and after careful review of future funding needs and the current financial markets, the company has decided to discontinue development of TIDAL-01 and to conclude all clinical studies evaluating the program in solid tumors.”
Turnstone is also “reducing its workforce while implementing further cost-containment and cash conservation measures,” the biotech added. “The company intends to retain all employees essential for supporting value-realization as part of its strategic review.”
Turnstone, which went public via an $80 million IPO in 2023, ended September 2024 with $45.3 million to hand, which the company had been expecting to last into the second quarter of 2026.