aibioWerewolf Therapeutics cuts 64% of workforce; CFO and CMO resign
Tickers HOWL
Werewolf expects a one-time charge of approximately $4.1 million in the first quarter of 2026. The filing also discloses the company's efforts to raise capital and a review of strategic partnerships for WTX-124 and WTX-330.
Key facts
- Company
- Werewolf Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOWL)
- News type
- Distress
- Primary source
- Werewolf Therapeutics, Inc. Form 8-K filed February 13, 2026 (SEC EDGAR)
Werewolf Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: HOWL) said in a Form 8-K filed February 13, 2026 that its board of directors approved a reduction in force covering 64% of the company's workforce. The board acted on February 9, 2026. The company says it is making the cut to decrease operating expenses, and that two senior officers, its chief financial officer and chief medical officer, are resigning as part of it. The filing also says the company has been trying to raise capital and is weighing strategic alternatives.
The workforce reduction
Werewolf expects the reduction to be substantially completed by February 13, 2026. It estimates a one-time charge of approximately $4.1 million in the first quarter of 2026 for employee separation benefits, including severance and related benefits. The company expects all of that to be paid in cash in the first quarter of 2026.
The company cautions that it may incur additional costs it has not contemplated because of events tied to the reduction. It also says its estimates rest on a number of assumptions and that actual results may differ materially.
Officer departures
Timothy W. Trost, Chief Financial Officer, and Randi Isaacs, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, agreed with the company on February 9, 2026 to resign from those roles effective February 13, 2026. Under their employment agreements, each is entitled to severance after signing a separation agreement and general release. The severance is an amount equal to nine months of base salary plus company contributions toward health care continuation under COBRA for nine months. The separation agreements also extend the exercise period for vested stock options from three months until the final exercise date set in the option agreements.
Both will also enter consulting agreements effective February 16, 2026. They will help with an orderly transition and provide other services the company reasonably requests, for up to six months. Werewolf will pay each of them $250 per hour.
On February 12, 2026, the company appointed Michael Urban, Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller, as its principal financial officer and principal accounting officer, effective February 13, 2026. The filing says Mr. Urban has been Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller since May 2023. Before that he was Senior Director, Corporate Controller and Head of Facilities at Codiak BioSciences, Inc. and earlier Director of Finance and Corporate Controller at Indigo Ag, Inc. The filing states that he has no family relationship with any director or executive officer and no reportable related-party interest.
Fundraising efforts and strategic review
Under Item 7.01, Werewolf said it sought to raise capital in the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026 to fund its planned operations. It held confidential discussions with certain potential investors about its business, its pipeline and its intent to undertake a financing. The company agreed to publicly disclose all confidential information from those talks by February 13, 2026. It had issued a press release and filed an 8-K on December 18, 2025 with a pipeline update, along with an updated corporate presentation.
The company says it is evaluating alternatives for maximizing near and long-term value for stockholders. That includes a previously announced process to seek strategic partnerships for further development of the WTX-124 and WTX-330 INDUKINE programs. The filing states that Werewolf cannot provide any assurance about when or whether those efforts would lead to a transaction, or on what terms.
About the company
In its annual report on Form 10-K filed March 11, 2025, Werewolf described itself as a biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics engineered to stimulate the immune system for cancer and other immune-mediated conditions. Its INDUKINE molecules are intended to activate selectively in the tumor microenvironment. WTX-124 and WTX-330 were its most advanced product candidates. The report also said it had licensed worldwide rights to JZP898 to Jazz Pharmaceuticals Ireland Limited.
President and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Hicklin signed the 8-K.