Pliant Therapeutics will cut 45% of its workforce in a sweeping restructuring effort aimed at extending its cash runway, the biotech disclosed after market close on 1 May. 

The move comes just weeks after the company halted its late-stage BEACON-IPF Phase IIb/III trial (NCT06097260) of bexotegrast, its lead drug candidate for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), following safety concerns. 

The layoffs are expected to affect all departments and are part of a broader cost-saving strategy designed to preserve capital ahead of critical topline data from the now-discontinued trial. While the company has not seen the final dataset, it anticipates receiving the data in the second quarter of 2025 (Q2 2025). Once available, Pliant plans to assess potential next steps for bexotegrast’s development, which could include additional dose-ranging studies in pulmonary fibrosis or new indications such as liver diseases.  

The BEACON-IPF study was halted in March 2025 after an independent data monitoring board and external expert panel identified an imbalance in unadjudicated IPF-related adverse events between the treatment and placebo arms. Although the company reported signs of efficacy – specifically early improvements in forced vital capacity – it opted to suspend the trial out of caution. Pliant said the restructuring is intended to ensure it can continue executing on its remaining clinical programmes without interruption.  

Bexotegrast, an oral, small-molecule, dual-selective inhibitor of the αvβ6 and αvβ1 integrins, is also being studied for primary sclerosing cholangitis. In addition to this, Pliant is advancing candidate PLN-101095 for solid tumours and PLN-101325 for muscular dystrophies. The restructuring is set for substantial completion by the end of Q2 2025, ahead of Pliant’s Q1 2025 financial results and corporate update on 8 May 2025.  

The IPF treatment space remains competitive, with few US Food and Drug Administration-approved therapies. Boehringer Ingelheim’s Ofev (nintedanib) and Roche’s Esbriet (pirfenidone) dominate the market, although Esbriet’s revenues have declined significantly in the past few years with the entry of generics. The drug earned SFr202m ($245m) in sales in 2023, dropping to SFr94m in 2024, as per Roche’s financials.  

Meanwhile, Boehringer is advancing nerandomilast, which recently met its primary endpoint in the Phase III FIBRONEER-IPF trial (NCT05321069) for IPF. The company has submitted a new drug application.