aibioJasper Therapeutics cuts workforce by about 50% and halts other programs to extend cash runway
Tickers JSPR
Jasper's board approved a corporate reorganization on July 8, 2025. The company will focus on briquilimab in chronic urticaria, expects $1.8 million to $2.2 million in severance cash costs, and its chief medical officer is leaving.
Key facts
- Company
- Jasper Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: JSPR)
- News type
- Distress
- Primary source
- Jasper Therapeutics, Inc. Form 8-K filed July 9, 2025 (SEC EDGAR)
Jasper Therapeutics, Inc. is cutting its workforce by approximately 50% and halting its other clinical and preclinical programs to extend its cash runway. The company's board approved the corporate reorganization on July 8, 2025, according to a Form 8-K filed July 9, 2025. Jasper will concentrate its resources on briquilimab in chronic urticaria. Its Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Edwin Tucker, will leave the company effective August 1, 2025.
What the company is cutting
The filing says the company has refined its operating plan to focus on its briquilimab clinical development programs in chronic urticaria. A press release attached to the filing adds that Jasper has executed a workforce reduction of approximately 50% of its current employees. The company is halting the ETESIAN study in asthma, the SCID study and the ongoing investigator-sponsored studies. It no longer plans to start an additional mast cell focused clinical development program this year. The release says the aim is to focus on developing briquilimab in chronic urticaria and completing the BEACON, SPOTLIGHT and open label extension studies.
Jasper estimates it will incur approximately $1.8 million to $2.2 million of cash expenditures for the reorganization, related to severance pay and expected through the quarter ending September 30, 2025. The company cautions that the charges depend on assumptions and actual charges may differ.
Leadership change
Under Item 5.02, Dr. Tucker will stop serving as Chief Medical Officer effective August 1, 2025. His departure counts as a termination without Cause under his Amended and Restated Employment Agreement dated as of June 10, 2024. If he signs a release in favor of the company, he will receive an amount equal to 12 months of his base salary, paid on the regular payroll cycle, and the company will pay COBRA premiums for him and his covered dependents for up to 12 months.
Daniel Adelman, M.D., a member of Jasper's Scientific Advisory Board, will become Acting Chief Medical Officer as of that date. The release says he previously served as Chief Medical Officer at Aimmune Therapeutics, Alvine Pharmaceuticals and Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, and worked at Genentech earlier in his career.
Management comment
Ronald Martell, President and Chief Executive Officer, said in the release that the company remains committed to briquilimab in chronic urticaria. He added: "we view this as a necessary step to ensure we closely manage our capital". He said the company looks forward to sharing additional data from the BEACON and open label extension studies later this year.
About the company
Jasper describes itself as a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing briquilimab, an antibody that blocks stem cell factor from binding to the KIT receptor, for mast cell driven diseases such as chronic spontaneous urticaria and chronic inducible urticaria. In its annual report filed February 28, 2025, the company said it started the Phase 1b/2a BEACON study in chronic spontaneous urticaria in late 2023 and the Phase 1b/2a SPOTLIGHT study in chronic inducible urticaria in early 2024. It also said it started an open label extension study for participants from both trials. For SPOTLIGHT, the company reported in October 2024 that 14 of the 15 participants (93%) in the 40mg and 120mg cohorts achieved a clinical response in the 6-week preliminary analysis period. For BEACON, it presented preliminary data in January 2025 from the first 8 dosing cohorts. These are the company's own descriptions of preliminary data.
The 8-K was signed by Herb Cross, Chief Financial Officer. The annual report filed February 28, 2025 was signed by Mr. Martell and Mr. Cross, with Thomas G. Wiggans as Chairperson of the Board.