Innate Pharma is set to lose 30% of its employees, including its chief scientific officer, as the French biotech focuses on its “highest-value assets.”
Investment will be prioritized in candidates like IPH4502, a Nectin-4-targeting antibody-drug conjugate undergoing a phase 1 study for a range of solid tumors, according to the company’s first-half results.
Lacutamab, an anti-KIR3DL2 antibody undergoing a phase 2 study for peripheral T-cell lymphoma as well as gearing up for a phase 3 study in an aggressive skin cancer called Sézary syndrome, will also remain a high priority, as will the AstraZeneca-partnered durvalumab, which is being evaluated a phase 3 study for non-small cell lung cancer.
Not listed among Innate’s priorities is IPH6501, a tetraspecific antibody-based natural killer cell engager that is being evaluated in a phase 1/2 study for B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Innate is currently working out a maximum dose to “assess clinical relevance” after observing “limited signals of activity” during the trial’s escalation phase.
When it comes to Innate’s preclinical pipeline, efforts “will focus on advancing the next ADCs toward development, leveraging its pipeline of innovative targets,” the company said.
“In line with such strategic focus and its objectives, the company intends to streamline its organization,” Innate explained. “Staffing levels are expected to decrease overall by about 30% total, including through attrition.”
These layoffs are likely to be completed during the first half of 2026, according to the biotech.
Alongside the announcement of this workforce resizing, the company also used the release to announce that CSO Eric Vivier, Ph.D., “has decided to return to academic research full time.” Vivier will leave his role at the end of the year but will continue to be an advisor to the R&D committee of the board of directors.
Chief Operating Officer Yannis Morel, Ph.D., will take on Vivier’s CSO responsibilities from next year.
“With key milestones anticipated over the next 12 months, our primary focus will be on progressing what we believe are our most promising and highest-value clinical assets and advancing our next ADCs toward development,” Innate CEO Jonathan Dickinson said in the release.
“In line with this strategic focus and in a challenging funding environment, we are taking necessary action to focus our resources on what we believe are the programs with the highest potential to deliver value for both patients and shareholders, and we therefore plan to streamline the size of the organization,” Dickinson added.
Innate entered July with 70.4 million euros ($83.4 million) in the bank, which it expects to run out in the third quarter of 2026.
The shake-up at Innate comes five months after Sanofi refocused its relationship with the biotech from oncology to autoimmune indications. This involved handing back a phase-2-stage CD123-targeting NK-cell engager and canceling another cancer trial.
Despite regaining the rights to the NK-cell engager, dubbed IPH6101, Innate didn’t list the candidate among its prioritized assets, and this morning’s release made no mention of future plans when referencing the drug.
IPH6101 was created with Innate’s NK-cell engager platform, dubbed ANKET, and the biopharma is continuing to collaborate with Sanofi on a number of other drugs from this source. One of them is a BCMA-targeting NK-cell engager called IPH6401.
The relationship between the two French companies remains strong, with Innate confirming this morning that Sanofi had gone ahead with its plan to acquire almost 15 million euros worth ($17.7 million ) of shares in the biotech.