Atea Pharma Cuts Workforce By 25%, Expects $15 Million In Cost Savings, Plans Phase 3 Hepatitis C Trial

On Thursday, Atea Pharmaceuticals Inc. AVIR reported a fourth-quarter earnings loss of 40 cents, missing the consensus of 37 cents.Atea reduced its workforce by approximately 25% during the first quarter of 2025. The action is expected to result in cost savings of approximately $15 million through 2027.The company said that, based on an engagement with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at the end-of-Phase 2 meeting in January 2025, Atea is initiating the global Phase 3 program and expects patient enrollment to start in April 2025.In December, Atea Pharmaceuticals released Phase 2 study data from the regimen of bemnifosbuvir and ruzasvir for the hepatitis C virus infection that causes liver swelling and can lead to serious liver damage.The study met its primary endpoints of safety and sustained virologic response at 12 weeks post-treatment (SVR12).Primary endpoint results demonstrated a 98% (208/213) SVR12 rate in the per-protocol treatment adherent patient population after eight weeks.Results to date demonstrate the potency of our potential best-in-class regimen with a short 8-week treatment duration, low risk of drug-drug interactions, and convenience with no food effect,” said Jean-Pierre Sommadossi, CEO and founder of Atea. “We believe our regimen, if approved, has the potential to play a major role in the eradication of HCV in the US and to disrupt and expand the global HCV market, which is approximately $3 billion in annual net sales.”“In addition to the substantial clinical progress, business updates include recent steps we have taken to further enhance shareholder value. This includes the retention of an investment bank to assist us in the exploration of strategic partnerships related to our Phase 3 HCV program, cost-cutting actions to increase efficiency in the management of infrastructure expenditures” Sommadossi added.JP Morgan Analyst Eric Joseph writes, “Stepping back, we continue to hold doubts over the bemni + ruza's value proposition over incumbent HCV products and the potential that sizeable BD emerges, altogether expecting AVIR to underperform our broader coverage over the mid-term.”Joseph reiterates the Underweight rating, citing doubts about the potential value of bemnifosbuvir in hepatitis C (HCV).JP Morgan is cautious as more generic drugs enter the HCV market; it expects the stock to remain under pressure and underperform compared to broader coverage.Price Action: AVIR stock is up 0.5% at $3.02 at last check Friday.Read Next:Foresight Unit Eye-Net’s V2X Tech Achieves Euro NCAP Compliance: DetailsPhoto: Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock.com