Evelo Biosciences to cut jobs, skin disease drug trial disappoints

Massachusetts: Evelo Biosciences Inc said on Wednesday its skin disease treatment did not meet the main goal in a mid-stage trial, and added it would reduce its workforce to conserve cash amid macroeconomic concerns.

The drug developer had 122 full-time employees, as of March 2022. Evelo did not disclose details on how many jobs it plans to cut.

Evelo said the drug, EDP1815, had failed to reduce the size and severity of eczema in the first three patient groups of the mid-stage trial.

The company was testing the drug on patients with atopic dermatitis and said it plans to wait for data from the final patient group in the study to make a decision on the drug.

Shares of Evelo fell 20.2 per cent to 83 cents premarket.