(Reuters) -Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Tuesday it was cutting 18% of its full-time workforce, as the company shifts focus to developing its COVID-19 booster shot.
Inovio in May had scrapped a late-stage trial of its COVID-19 vaccine after the company fell behind rivals in the vaccine race. It said it would develop the vaccine candidate, INO-4800, as a heterologous booster.
The company said on Tuesday the changes are expected to reduce its operating expenses by about 30% over the next 18 months and would extend its cash runway into the third quarter of 2024.
That would allow Inovio to focus on the development of its COVID-19 booster shot and other vaccine programs, the company said.
As of February, Inovio had 317 full-time employees, according to its regulatory filing.
(Reporting by Amruta Khandekar; Editing by Maju Samuel)
