--- title: "Keros Therapeutics plans workforce reduction of approximately 45%" url: "https://aibio.space/news/keros-therapeutics-plans-workforce-reduction-approximately-45-percent/" publisher: "aibio.space (Biotech Investor Relations News)" date: "2025-05-29" section: "Distress" tickers: "NASDAQ:KROS" source: "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1664710/000166471025000052/kros-20250528.htm" summary: "Keros's board approved a plan on May 28, 2025 to cut its overall workforce by about 45%, with about $3.2 million in severance charges and up to about $0.4" --- By the aibio.space news desk. Sources - [Keros Therapeutics, Inc. Form 8-K filed May 29, 2025 (SEC EDGAR)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1664710/000166471025000052/kros-20250528.htm) - [Keros Therapeutics, Inc. Form 10-K filed February 26, 2025: business overview and signatures (SEC EDGAR)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1664710/000166471025000018/kros-20241231.htm) [KROS](https://aibio.space/companies/keros-therapeutics/) 2025-05-29 # Keros Therapeutics plans workforce reduction of approximately 45% in restructuring Tickers [KROS](https://aibio.space/companies/keros-therapeutics/) Keros's board approved a plan on May 28, 2025 to cut its overall workforce by about 45%, with about $3.2 million in severance charges and up to about $0.4 million in retention costs. The cuts follow the January 2025 early termination of the PAH trial over pericardial effusion events, though the company held $559.9 million in cash at the end of 2024. ## Key facts - **Company**: Keros Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: KROS) - **News type**: Distress - **Primary source**: [Keros Therapeutics, Inc. Form 8-K filed May 29, 2025 (SEC EDGAR)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1664710/000166471025000052/kros-20250528.htm) *The Capitol dome seen from below. Photo: U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Source), CC0, via rawpixel. The picture shows the field, not the companies named.* Keros Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: [KROS](https://aibio.space/companies/keros-therapeutics/)) said it will cut its overall workforce by approximately 45% under a restructuring it calls the Reorganization. The board approved the plan on May 28, 2025, and employees were told on May 29. The company reported the plan in a [Form 8-K](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1664710/000166471025000052/kros-20250528.htm) filed May 29, 2025, under the item covering costs tied to exit or disposal activities. ## The cost and the timing Keros expects one-time cash charges of approximately $3.2 million for employee severance and related costs, to be expensed in the second quarter of 2025. It has also committed to one-time retention costs of up to approximately $0.4 million for certain employees, to be incurred through the fourth quarter of 2025. The company expects the Reorganization to be substantially complete by the fourth quarter of 2025. The company says these estimates rest on several assumptions and that actual amounts may differ materially. It also says it may incur charges it has not contemplated. Its forward-looking statements name the risk that it may not carry out the Reorganization as planned, and that its cost-saving initiatives may not succeed. ## Why the trial matters The same day, Keros issued a press release on topline data from its TROPOS trial, and it filed a topline presentation as Exhibit 99.2. The 8-K does not restate those results. The [annual report on Form 10-K](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1664710/000166471025000018/kros-20241231.htm), filed February 26, 2025, describes the trial as a Phase 2 study of cibotercept, the company's lead candidate in pulmonary arterial hypertension, or PAH. The primary endpoint was the change from baseline in pulmonary vascular resistance at Week 24 against placebo. The company announced the early termination of TROPOS in January 2025, after it halted all dosing, including the 1.5 mg/kg and placebo arms, based on an ongoing safety review prompted by the unanticipated observation of pericardial effusion adverse events. The 10-K says that observation may also affect Keros's ability to enroll patients in any future cibotercept trials. The company had planned to present topline TROPOS data in the second quarter of 2025 and then to decide on the development strategy, including in PAH and other indications. Keros describes itself as a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing protein therapeutics for disorders linked to dysfunctional signaling in the transforming growth factor-beta, or TGF-ß, family. Its other candidates are KER-065, for neuromuscular diseases with an initial focus on Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and elritercept, or KER-050, for low blood cell counts in myelodysplastic syndromes and myelofibrosis. ## Cash and the Takeda deal The company had cash and cash equivalents of $559.9 million at December 31, 2024, and a net loss of $187,353 thousand for 2024, up from $152,992 thousand in 2023. The 10-K says that balance, together with a $200 million upfront payment from Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. received in February 2025, will fund operating expenses and capital spending into 2029. Takeda holds an exclusive license to develop, manufacture and commercialize elritercept worldwide outside mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. The agreement was entered into in December 2024 and became effective on January 16, 2025. ## What the 8-K leaves out The 8-K does not link the reduction to the TROPOS results, and it does not say which functions or roles are affected. It points readers to the risk factors in the company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q, filed May 6, 2025, for a fuller description of the risks to the Reorganization. The 8-K also states that the Reorganization's timing and cost estimates may change, and that the company may incur charges it has not yet identified. [Report an error](https://aibio.space/reputation/#correction) ## Companies in this story KROS Keros Therapeutics, Inc. NASDAQ · United States Open the starter desk ## More in Distress Distress ### [Mineralys takes ownership of lorundrostat patents but keeps Tanabe milestone debts](https://aibio.space/news/mineralys-takes-ownership-lorundrostat-patents-but-keeps-tanabe/) Oct 29, 2026 Distress ### [Bristol Myers Squibb drops Prothena's PRX019, ending up to $617.5 million in milestones](https://aibio.space/news/bristol-myers-squibb-drops-prothenas-prx019-ending-up-617-5-million/) Oct 29, 2026 Distress ### [LENZ Therapeutics reorganizes to cut 2027 operating expenses by more than 50%](https://aibio.space/news/lenz-therapeutics-reorganizes-cut-2027-operating-expenses-more-50/) Oct 28, 2026 --- Source page: https://aibio.space/news/keros-therapeutics-plans-workforce-reduction-approximately-45-percent/. Facts in aibio.space stories are checked against company filings and releases; opinion is labelled. Cite as: aibio.space, "Keros Therapeutics plans workforce reduction of approximately 45%", 2025-05-29, https://aibio.space/news/keros-therapeutics-plans-workforce-reduction-approximately-45-percent/