aibioBioCryst to close Birmingham discovery center, cuts 2026 spending outlook
Tickers BCRX
The HAE drugmaker will stop internal drug discovery and look outside for new programs. A later 8-K/A put severance at $6.2 million to $7.5 million, and a state WARN notice listed 47 jobs at the site.
Key facts
- Company
- BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: BCRX)
- News type
- Financings
- Primary source
- BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (SEC Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1)
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals said on June 29 that it will discontinue its internal discovery programs and close its Discovery Center of Excellence in Birmingham, Alabama, by the end of 2026. The company will instead look for new drug candidates through licensing and partnerships.
With the change, BioCryst cut its 2026 non-GAAP operating expense guidance to $420 million to $440 million, from $450 million to $470 million. It reaffirmed revenue guidance of $625 million to $645 million for Orladeyo and $635 million to $660 million in total.
The same release said enrollment was complete in ALPHA-ORBIT, the phase 3 trial of navenibart, and that a manufacturing delay for pediatric Orladeyo pellets was resolved, with product expected in early August.
The details
The board approved the plan on June 25, according to the company's 8-K. BioCryst first said it could not estimate costs. An amended filing on August 4 put one-time employee termination and severance costs at $6.2 million to $7.5 million, of which $5.3 million to $6.6 million would be cash. Facility closure costs, such as lease termination or asset impairment, were still being assessed.
The company did not tell Fierce Biotech how many employees were affected. A WARN notice dated August 4 and reported by ABC 33/40 listed 47 employees, with layoffs scheduled to begin October 7.
CEO Charlie Gayer said in the release that the review was one of his top priorities over the prior six months. "We believe that our next phase of growth and value creation will come from a more agile, targeted approach to research," he said.
The pipeline that remains is short. Navenibart, a long-acting plasma kallikrein inhibitor dosed every three or six months, has top-line data on 6- and 12-month endpoints expected in the third quarter of 2027. BCX17725, a KLK5 inhibitor for the rare skin disease Netherton syndrome, is in part 4 of a phase 1 study with up to 12 patients and proof-of-concept data due by year end.
Context
BioCryst has been reshaping itself for a year. It sold its European Orladeyo business to Neopharmed Gentili in October 2025, bought Astria Therapeutics for navenibart in January 2026, and in May licensed European navenibart rights back to Neopharmed for $70 million upfront. In the first quarter it also ended development of avoralstat in diabetic macular edema to focus on rare diseases.
Fierce noted that the HAE market is getting more crowded, citing KalVista's oral drug Ekterly, approved last year, as a competitor in the kallikrein inhibitor class.
What it means for investors
The cut is modest in dollar terms. The guidance change is about $30 million at the midpoint, set against an Orladeyo business guided to more than $600 million in sales. The bigger shift is strategic: BioCryst is betting that buying or licensing assets will refill the pipeline faster than its own labs could.
That approach depends on deal execution and on what BioCryst pays. The company has profits to spend but also took on a $400 million term loan in January. If no new programs arrive, the pipeline beyond 2027 rests on navenibart and one early Netherton asset.
What to watch
Layoffs at the Birmingham-area site were set to begin on October 7. BCX17725 proof-of-concept data are due by the end of 2026, and BioCryst said it expects to keep lowering its cost structure beyond 2026.