RARE Daily

Quince Therapeutics Prioritizes Pipeline, Slashes Workforce

January 31, 2023

Rare Daily Staff

Less than a year after ditching a failed Alzheimer’s program and focusing on a bone targeting drug platform, Quince Therapeutics is pivoting again.

The company said it will prioritize capital resources toward opportunistic in-licensing and acquisition of clinical-stage assets targeting debilitating and rare diseases and plans to out-license its bone-targeting drug platform and precision bone growth molecule NOV004 designed for accelerated fracture repair in patients with bone fractures and osteogenesis imperfecta.

“We believe our optimal growth plan lies in dedicating our capital, drug development, and corporate resources toward the in-licensing and acquisition of clinical-stage assets,” said Dirk Thye, CEO of Quince. “We are actively seeking partnership opportunities focused around clinical-stage assets in a broad variety of therapeutic areas.”

Quince’s bone growth molecule NOV004 is an anabolic peptide engineered to precisely target and concentrate at the bone fracture site, resulting in rapid increases in bone density, strength, and expedited healing as demonstrated in extensive preclinical studies. NOV004 has completed all IND-enabling studies, in addition to completion of a successful pre-IND meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Though Quince said it has significant cash runway to support pipeline expansion through in-licensing and acquisition, as well as fund capital and operating expenditures into at least 2028, the company did not mention that it is cutting 47 percent of its workforce as it looks to sell its major asset NOV004, leaving that notice to an SEC filing.

Quince was formed when Cortexyme pivoted from Alzheimer’s by buying private biotech Novosteo for its bone targeting platform and changed the combined company’s name.

Photo: Dirk Thye, CEO of Quince

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