Boston biotech HilleVax said Wednesday that it will let go about 41 employees, or roughly 40% of its staff, after its lead vaccine failed a mid-stage test earlier in July.
The Takeda spinout’s share price $HLVX plunged more than 80% after its norovirus vaccine, HIL-214, failed a trial in infants. The experimental vaccine had previously shown benefit in adults, and the company had planned to “rapidly progress” into Phase 3 if the vaccine worked in the younger population. HilleVax said the Phase 2b NEST-IN1 study was the first efficacy trial for a norovirus vaccine candidate in infants.
On Wednesday, HilleVax said it will see whether it can continue developing its HIL-214 and HIL-216 norovirus vaccine candidates. The company licensed HIL-216 from Chengdu Kanghua earlier this year. It will also explore business development opportunities for the two vaccines.
“We believe there is still value in the company, particularly with HIL-216’s potential for broader coverage,” Leerink analysts wrote in a note at the time of the July fail.
HilleVax said it expects the layoffs to be “substantially complete” this quarter. The move will cost the company about $3.4 million, according to an SEC filing. The vaccine developer had $272.7 million in cash, equivalents and marketable securities at the end of March. HilleVax spun out of Takeda in the summer of 2021, disclosed a $135 million crossover round two months later, and then went public less than a year after, raising about $230 million.