Stock prices plummet, and Fate will cut 60% of its workforce and cut multiple CAR-NK clinical programs

Fate Therapeutics announced the early termination of its partnership with Johnson & Johnson, as well as cutting its existing R&D pipeline and drastically cutting jobs
.
For example, it has abandoned several CAR-NK cell therapies under development in clinical phase 1, and plans to reduce the number of employees from 545 last year to 220 in the first quarter of this year, with a layoff ratio of up to 60%.

Fate is a company
dedicated to the development of iPSC-based cell therapies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer.
Fate's stock price has plummeted more than 50% on the news, and its current market value is only about $1 billion, down 90%
from its peak two years ago.

Fate CEO Scott Wolchko said he was disappointed that he couldn't agree
with Johnson & Johnson on a proposal to continue the partnership.
In keeping with the company's commitment to develop disruptive product candidates, programs, and technologies that have the potential to address a large number of unmet clinical needs, the company has prioritized some clinical programs and significantly reduced operating expenses, resulting in staff reductions and downsizing of its existing R&D pipeline to secure cash flow
over the next three years.
We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all employees for their great efforts and wish those who are leaving the company every success in the
future.

Fate was founded in 2007 and listed
on NASDAQ in 2013.
Since 2019, a number of iPSC-based CAR-T and car-NK cell therapies have entered clinical trials, and Fate's market value once exceeded ten billion US dollars
.

In April 2020, Fate partnered with Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen to develop several iPSC-based CAR-T and CAR-NK cell therapies, and Johnson & Johnson paid Fate $100 million in cash (including $50 million upfront and $50 million equity investment), in addition to eligible for milestone payments totaling $3 billion and sales share
of subsequent drug developments.

However, this cooperation between the two parties will be completely terminated
in the first quarter of this year.
Fate Corporation ended the fourth quarter of 2022 with unaudited cash, cash equivalents and accounts receivable totaling approximately $475 million
.
Fate said it expects sufficient funding to advance its iPSC-based CAR-NK and CAR-T cell therapies
by the end of 2025.

But Fate also said it would cut its workforce sharply to about 220 in the first quarter of this year, a 60 percent
layoff.
In addition, Fate will also reduce its existing pipeline and discontinue NK cell therapies FT516 and FT538 for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia, NK cell therapies FT516 and FT596 for the treatment of B-cell lymphoma, and NK cell therapy FT538 and FT536
for the treatment of solid tumors.