The transition from allogeneic CAR-T to Cellectis’ in vivo therapies will be at the expense of 70% of its workforce.
The Parisian company announced in September that it had abandoned its two allogeneic CAR-Ts at the clinical stage: lasme-cel in a pivotal phase 2 for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia; and phase 1 eti-cel in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).
“In 2026, despite our continued belief in the promise of allogeneic CAR T cell therapies and strong physician interest in lasma-cel and eti-cel, the commercial and clinical landscape for B-ALL and NHL has changed significantly,” the company explained at the time.
Instead, Cellectis decided to follow many of its cell therapy-focused peers and move into in vivo therapy. It has channeled resources toward two preclinical candidates: HEAL-101, an in vivo base-editing candidate targeting APOC3 for severe hypertriglyceridemia; and HEAL-201, an in vivo epigenetic editing candidate targeting PCSK9 for severe hypercholesterolemia.
Fierce was unable to obtain clarification from the company at the time on how this change would impact Cellectis employees. But in the biotech’s third-quarter earnings filings released Friday, the company revealed that seven out of 10 Cellectis employees could be out of work.
“The realignment of the company’s operating model is underway,” Cellectis explains in the press release.
“As part of this initiative, the company currently expects its global workforce to be reduced by up to 70% from its pre-transition level during the years 2026 and 2027, subject to completion of the applicable French works council consultation process and compliance with applicable French and U.S. labor law requirements.
Cellectis entered 2026 with 229 full-time employees, spread across a headquarters and manufacturing facility, both in Paris, as well as an R&D site in New York and another manufacturing facility in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Cellectis CEO André Choulika, Ph.D., said in this morning’s release that the biotechnology teams are now “fully engaged in our next chapter of in vivo gene editing.”
Choulika highlighted preclinical data unveiled last month at the European Society for Cell and Gene Therapy in Germany, which suggested that HEAL-101 – an in vivo base editing candidate targeting APOC3 for severe hypertriglyceridemia – edited the human APOC3 gene at rates of up to 70% in a humanized liver model.
“These results support the continued development of HEAL-101, and the initiation of an investigator-initiated trial in China is on track with the goal of providing first clinical data for HEAL-101 in the second half of 2027,” the CEO added.
Cellectis also plans to initiate a separate Phase 1 study in China in 2028 for HEAL-201, an in vivo epigenetic editing candidate targeting PCSK9 for severe hypercholesterolemia.
Momentum has been moving away from allogeneic cell therapies for some time, with companies moving toward in vivo approaches, including using gene editing to generate CAR-T cells in a patient’s body.
One of the most notable signs was when Kite Pharma, a leading cell therapy organization, a subsidiary of Gilead Sciences, abandoned a $2.3 billion allogeneic deal with Shoreline Biosciences last year and began pouring money into the in vivo field, buying Interius BioTherapeutics for $350 million and signing a deal with Pregene Biopharma worth up to $1.6 billion. dollars.
A bigger big pharma shopping spree in the space also saw AbbVie buy Capstan Therapeutics for $2.1 billion, Bristol Myers Squibb acquire Orbital Therapeutics for $1.5 billion, AstraZeneca acquire EsoBiotec for $1 billion and Eli Lilly buy Kelonia Therapeutics and Orna Therapeutics.
The most exciting areas of biopharmaceutical R&D are among the hot topics covered at Fierce Biotech’s high-impact event in London this month. Find out more information and register by clicking on the banner below:
Gn bussni
