Bala Cynwyd-based SwanBio Therapeutics is planning to lay off half of its workforce and narrow its research focus in an attempt to conserve cash as the market for raising investment capital continues to tighten, writes John George for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

“As many of our peers have had to do in this challenging market, SwanBio is shifting from a multi-asset to single-asset company,” said the company. “Unfortunately, with this shift we are looking at a reduction of force of about half our employees.”

While the company did not say how many positions are being eliminated, a spokesperson did note that from now, SwanBio will not have more than 20 employees.

The gene therapy company plans to continue enrolling patients and placing them in the Phase 1/2 clinical trial for its experimental treatment that targets adrenomyeloneuropathy, the progressive and debilitating neurodegenerative disease that affects one in 40,000 people.

However, SwanBio is hopeful that when market conditions improve, it will be able to go back to its earlier-stage pipeline programs it had in development. The programs focused on spinal cord-related disorders.

Read more about SwanBio Therapeutics in the Philadelphia Business Journal.

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More on gene therapies for spinal cord-related disorders.