Black Diamond Therapeutics is cutting an unspecified number of workers, including several executives, and making changes to its pipeline in an effort to extend its cash runway.
Fang NiAs part of the restructuring, CBO/CFO Fang Ni and chief people officer Elizabeth Montgomery are leaving Black Diamond. As of Feb. 15, Black Diamond had 54 full-time employees. It had laid off 30% of its workforce in 2022.
Black Diamond said it is also looking for partnerships as it deprioritizes its program in RAF/RAS-mutant solid tumors.
The company now plans to focus on advancing its lead program, dubbed BDTX-1535, into pivotal development. The changes are expected to extend the cash runway into the second quarter of 2026.
Last month, Black Diamond read out a small batch of Phase 2 data for BDTX-1535, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, in patients with relapsed/refractory EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Of the 19 evaluable patients who were on the 200 mg dose and expressed mutations showing resistance to AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso, five achieved a confirmed partial response, one of whom later progressed to an unconfirmed complete response, and another three achieved an unconfirmed partial response.
In a note on Monday, TD Cowen analysts described the drug as having “a Tagrisso-like safety profile” and they anticipate an accelerated approval in second-line or higher EGFRm NSCLC if “this data holds.”
They also wrote that while they are “disappointed that the other programs will not be advanced internally, we think the move is prudent given the capital position of the company and the strength of data BDTX-1535 has generated to date.”
More data are expected in the first quarter, when Black Diamond plans to share initial Phase 2 data for the drug in the frontline setting for patients with EGFRm NSCLC. The company may also have updated Phase 2 data in patients with recurrent EGFRm NSCLC early next year, along with a potential registration path based on FDA feedback.