(Bloomberg) -- Sage Therapeutics Inc. is laying off more than 165 employees as the biotech company tries to conserve cash after multiple setbacks to its pipeline.
The job cuts will affect about one-third of its total workforce, including about half of the employees who work in research and development. Several executives will also depart, including Chief Financial Officer Kimi Iguchi, the company said in a statement.
Sage shares were up less than 1% in Thursday premarket trading in New York. They’re down roughly 66% so far this year.
The layoffs are the latest sign of turmoil at the neuroscience-focused drugmaker, which has been reeling from a series of disappointing clinical trial results. This year, Sage has reported failed trials in studies to treat essential tremor, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
But perhaps the biggest blow came last year, when US regulators approved its fast-acting pill only for postpartum depression, denying the drug clearance for major depressive disorder, a larger market.
The layoffs will extend the company’s cash runway and allow it to continue investing in the recent launch of the postpartum depression pill Zurzuvae, which it sells with Biogen Inc., the company said.
Analysts say Sage is highly dependent on the success of the experimental medicine that it’s developing for Huntington’s disease, a neurodegenerative illness. The company said it’s expecting results from that trial later this year.
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