TLDR:
- Walking Fish Therapeutics, a biotech company, closed down after a lead investor backed out of a critical series B round.
- 35 employees were laid off as a result of the closure.
Walking Fish Therapeutics, a cell therapy biotech company, has shut down after a lead investor decided to withdraw from a crucial series B funding round. The CEO, Rusty Williams, expressed shock at the investor’s abrupt decision to pull out, citing concerns about the cost of a multiyear lease. This move came after Walking Fish had secured two federal ARPA-H grants to ease the financial burden.
The closure led to layoffs of 35 employees, following previous rounds of layoffs to reduce costs. The company had previously received substantial funding, including a $73 million series A round co-led by Northpond Ventures and First Spark Ventures. Walking Fish had been working on a three-asset portfolio of B-cell-based therapies, with a lead candidate aimed at treating Fabry disease. The biotech’s main asset, WFX-001, was in the final stages of IND-enabling studies.
Despite the closure, Williams remains optimistic about the potential of B-cell therapy and believes that the company’s work would have been successful. Reflecting on the challenges faced by the cell therapy industry, Williams acknowledges the high costs associated with manufacturing and conducting clinical trials. He is now involved in a new venture, Ten30 Bio, which is focused on oral molecules.
The closure of Walking Fish highlights the financial obstacles faced by biotech companies in the cell therapy space, even with promising therapeutic approaches. Williams acknowledges the difficulties in securing funding in the current environment but remains hopeful about the future of B-cell therapy.
