Selecta Biosciences' New CEO Restructures, Cuts 36% of Staff

Selecta Biosciences, based in Watertown, Mass., announced that as part of restructuring efforts it is cutting its current workforce by 36 percent. The company believes that the cuts, along with a reprioritization of its pipeline, will decrease its yearly cash burn by 19 percent. At its third-quarter financial report on November 8, 2018, the company reported no revenue for the quarter, while R&D expenses were $11.9 million, up from $9.5 million in the same quarter in 2017. General and administrative expenses for the quarter were $4.1 million, and there was a net loss for the quarter of $16 million or $(0.71) per share. It had $50.5 million in cash and cash equivalents as of September 30, 2018. At that time, Werner Cautreels, then president and chief executive officer, said, “We believe that our lead program, SEL-212, has the potential to fulfill several unmet needs in chronic severe gout patients including sustained serum uric acid reduction, reduced painful flares and once monthly dosing. We have recently presented interim data from our Phase II trial at ACR showing sustained SUA control over a five-month combination period.”