Kinnate slashes workforce by 70%, shelves three drug programs (KNTE)

Kinnate Biopharma (NASDAQ:KNTE) said late Monday that it was slashing its workforce by 70% as part of a reprioritization of its drug development programs.

The biotech company said the cuts will leave it with 28 full-time employees and also result in the separation of all employees at its wholly owned Chinese subsidiary, Kinnjiu Biopharma.

Kinnate had $204.3M in cash as of the end of June, which it believes can fund operations into Q2 2026.

As part of the reorganization, Kinnate said it will not proceed with developing exarafenib as a monotherapy and will explore strategic alternatives for that program and the KIN-3248 program. The company has also shelved plans to initiate clinical testing of KIN-7136.

Instead, Kinnate intends to focus on developing the drug combination of exarafenib with binimetinib, with plans to select two doses in Q4 for additional development. The company also intends to file with the FDA to begin clinical testing of KIN-8741 and pick a drug candidate from its CDK4 program in Q4.

Shares of Kinnate were down 14% in after-hours trading on Monday at around 6:50 p.m. ET.