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Tocagen to slash 65% of jobs to focus on brain cancer therapy

San Diego-based biotechnology company Tocagen Inc. has decided to let go of 65% of its workforce by the end of the year.

The layoffs, part of a restructuring to focus resources on the clinical development of Toca 511 and Toca FC, will result in the company retaining just about 30 full-time employees.

The restructuring was approved by the company's board of directors on Oct. 1 and the affected employees were informed the next day.

It will cost the company an estimated $1 million in one-time personnel-related restructuring charges for employee severance and other related termination benefits.

The severance payments are expected to be paid in full by Dec. 31, Tocagen said in an Oct. 3 press release.

Tocagen CEO Marty Duvall said that with the extended cash position from this restructuring, the immediate priorities are to complete the analysis of the Toca 5 trial data and interact with regulatory agencies to determine potential next steps for Toca 511 and Toca FC in recurrent high-grade glioma.

This decision comes weeks after the company saw its share price drop on Nasdaq as its two-part immunotherapy failed to perform better than the standard of care in treating brain cancer patients.

The therapy holds breakthrough-therapy designation in the U.S. and an orphan status in the EU. It is licensed to ApolloBio Corp. for the Greater China region.