aibioAC Immune to cut about 30% of workforce, sees CHF 127.1 million lasting to Q3 2027
Tickers ACIU
The company is focusing on its late-stage active immunotherapy programs and two small molecule programs. It says near-term clinical milestones are unchanged.
Key facts
- Company
- AC Immune SA (NASDAQ: ACIU)
- News type
- Distress
- Primary source
- AC Immune SA 6-K (2025-09-04)
AC Immune SA (Nasdaq: ACIU) said on September 4, 2025 that it will cut its workforce by around 30% after what it calls a strategic review by executive management. The Swiss company, which develops treatments and diagnostics for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, says the move sharpens its focus and pushes its cash runway to the end of the third quarter of 2027. The announcement was made in a press release furnished to the SEC.
What the company announced
AC Immune said it will concentrate investment on its three clinical-stage active immunotherapy programs, two of which are in ongoing pharma collaborations, and on its most promising small molecule programs targeting NLRP3 and Tau. It also said it is placing greater emphasis on late-stage clinical development of its active immunotherapy portfolio for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and on candidates that act on intracellular targets.
The release gives no headcount, no figure for the cost of the restructuring and no estimate of the savings. It does not say which roles or which research efforts are affected beyond naming the programs that remain a priority. Under Swiss employment law a consultation process with employees has been started. Once it ends, the company says it will offer affected employees support that includes severance packages and help in seeking new employment, coaching or training. AC Immune expects full implementation by the end of 2025 and says the reduction of costs should become fully effective early in 2026.
The cash position
The company reported cash resources of CHF 127.1 million as of June 30, 2025. It says the cuts extend its cash for operations to the end of the third quarter of 2027. That estimate does not include potential payments from partnering, and the chief executive said it also excludes anticipated business development milestone payments from existing or potential new deals. In other words, the runway as stated rests on the existing cash and the cost cuts alone, and any partner money would be additional.
Clinical timelines
AC Immune said near-term clinical milestones remain unchanged. It maintains its guidance that interim clinical data from ACI-7104.056 are expected in the second half of 2025 and from ACI-24.060 in the first half of 2026. The release does not describe the design of either study or say what the data would need to show.
Chief executive Andrea Pfeifer said the company is making meaningful progress with its candidates and is approaching multiple potentially transformational milestones over the next two years, both in its collaborations with Janssen, Takeda and Lilly and in its wholly owned programs. She called the decision "challenging and carefully considered." Those statements are the company's own characterisation. The company also says its partnerships carry more than $4.5 billion in potential milestone payments plus royalties, but those payments depend on clinical and regulatory success that has not yet occurred.
The company
AC Immune was formed as a Swiss limited liability company on February 13, 2003 and converted to a Swiss stock corporation on August 25, 2003. Its registered office is in Ecublens, at the EPFL Innovation Park in Lausanne. Its shares were admitted to trading on the Nasdaq Global Market on September 23, 2016. Its annual report states that its principal expenditures since January 1, 2022 have been research and development.
The company relies on two technology platforms, SupraAntigen and Morphomer, and says it is advancing therapeutic and diagnostic programs aimed at five types of misfolded pathological proteins linked to Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. Its annual report names its scientific founders as Jean-Marie Lehn, Claude Nicolau and Fred van Leuven, and describes Dr. Pfeifer as a co-founder and chief executive who formerly headed Nestlé Global Research.
The company has chosen a narrower pipeline and a longer runway. With fewer programs carrying the load, setbacks in the active immunotherapy studies or the partnered programs would weigh more heavily.