Oct 27 (Reuters) – Artiva Biotherapeutics said on Tuesday it would halt the development of an experimental cell therapy for certain autoimmune conditions — its lead candidate — after two patient deaths, sending its shares slumping 32%.
The company will slash its workforce by about 94% and evaluate strategic alternatives, it said.
Here are more details:
• Artiva’s therapy AlloNK was being tested as a potential treatment for autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis in a mid-stage trial
• The company said one of the patients in the trial experienced a fatal neurological event following treatment
• The investigator and an independent safety review assessed the event as likely related to complications caused by the chemotherapy drug fludarabine, the company said
• A second patient in the trial experienced sudden death about two months after initiating treatment, which an investigator assessed as unrelated to AlloNK, Artiva added
• “Two patient deaths plus fading durability quickly transformed what looked like a promising and differentiated path forward into one that carried too much risk and uncertainty,” said Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Josh Schimmer
• Schimmer said a path forward with AlloNK would have been a challenging one with an incredibly high cost of capital
• As of September 30, Artiva had about $319.1 million in cash, cash equivalents and investments
• As of December 31, 2025, the company had 104 full-time employees, according to its annual filing
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Ananda and Sriraj Kalluvila)
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