06:14 AM EST, 01/30/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Cargo Therapeutics ( CRGX ) said Wednesday that it will discontinue the phase 2 study of firicabtagene autoleucel, or firi-cel, for patients with large B-cell lymphoma, and reduce its workforce by about 50% to preserve cash for the development of other product candidates.

The company said results from an ad-hoc analysis of the phase 2 study data "do not support a competitive benefit-risk profile" of firi-cel for the target patient population. The company will focus instead on advancing CRG-023 and its allogeneic platform, while evaluating its strategic options.

Cargo Therapeutics ( CRGX ) said it targets to start enrollment for a phase 1 dose escalation study on CRG-023 in Q2.

Cargo Therapeutics ( CRGX ) shares were down more than 74% in recent premarket activity Thursday.