Redmond-based biotech Eliem Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: ELYM) is shaking up its leadership and drastically reducing its headcount.
Earlier this month, Eliem announced it was cutting its workforce by about 55% in the first half of this year. The company also announced Bob Azelby would leave his position as CEO, president and a member of the board, and that Andrew Levin, co-founder and chairman of the board, would assume day-to-day leadership while Eliem searches for Azelby's replacement.
Eliem said in a regulatory filing it had 31 employees at the end of 2021, including full-time and part-time workers. The company expects costs of about $17.1 million from the layoffs between severance, benefits and stock-based compensation. Eliem said its cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaled about $123.6 million at the end of last year, and the company should be able to fund operations into 2027.
Eliem is also pausing development of ETX-155, its drug candidate aimed at major depressive disorder and focal onset seizures. The company was ready to start phase 2 clinical trials this quarter, but the board decided to stop investing in the drug "given current capital market conditions and investor sentiment" around it. Instead, Eliem is focusing on ETX-123, which is aimed at epilepsy and pain, and it could have an impact on depression disorders. The company expects to start phase 1 trials in the first half of next year.
In addition to Azelby's departure, Eliem announced Erin Lavelle, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, is leaving the company March 10. Azelby will receive over $2.3 million in severance payments from Eliem, while Lavelle will receive over $1.05 million. James Bucher, executive vice president and general counsel, is also leaving Eliem.
Azelby had led Eliem as CEO since October 2020, according to his LinkedIn page. He was previously the president and CEO of Alder BioPharmaceuticals, which sold to H. Lundbeck for $2.3 billion in 2019. He was the chief commercial officer at Juno Therapeutics before that. Juno was acquired by Celgene for $9 billion in 2018.
“On behalf of the full board, I extend my deepest gratitude to Bob, Erin and Jim for their leadership and contributions to Eliem, and to our departing employees for all their efforts on behalf of the company,” Levin said in a release.
Levin had served as Eliem's CEO from October 2018 to October 2020, according to the company. He took over as board chairman in February 2019.
Eliem, founded in 2018, is focused on the central and peripheral nervous system. The company raised a $60 million Series B round in May 2021, months after raising $80 million in March of that year. Eliem went public on the Nasdaq in August 2021. Its stock reached a high of more than $27 per share in September 2021 but has since fallen more than 89% to $2.90 at close Wednesday.
