| Item 2.05. | Costs Associated with Exit or Disposal Activities. |
On October 18, 2023, the board of directors of Beam Therapeutics Inc. (the “Company”) approved a portfolio prioritization and strategic restructuring of the Company to streamline its operations. The Company intends to prioritize development of its ex vivo and in vivo sickle cell disease programs, including BEAM-101, its Engineered Stem Cell Antibody Paired Evasion (ESCAPE) conditioning strategy, and in vivo delivery to hematopoietic stem cells program, as well as its in vivo base editor BEAM-302 in development for the treatment of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. The Company also intends to explore partnership opportunities for continued development of select programs, including BEAM-201 and other potential ex vivo CAR-T therapies.
In connection with this portfolio prioritization and strategic restructuring, the Company expects to reduce its employee headcount by approximately 100 positions, or about 20% of its workforce. The Company expects to incur one-time costs of approximately $6.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 in connection with the workforce reduction. These costs consist primarily of cash expenditures related to severance payments. The Company estimates that the workforce reduction will be substantially completed in the fourth quarter of 2023. The estimate of costs that the Company expects to incur and the timing thereof are subject to a number of assumptions and actual results may differ. The Company may also incur additional costs not currently contemplated due to events that may occur as a result of, or that are associated with, the actions described above.
| Item 7.01. | Regulation FD Disclosure. |
On October 18, 2023, the Company updated its corporate presentation that it intends to use in connection with presentations at conferences and meetings. The slides from the Company’s corporate presentation are furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and are incorporated herein by reference.
The information in this Item 7.01 (including Exhibit 99.1 attached hereto) is being furnished and shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as expressly set forth by specific reference in such filling.
On October 19, 2023, the Company issued a press release announcing the portfolio prioritization and strategic restructuring. The full text of the press release is filed as Exhibit 99.2 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.
| Item 9.01. | Financial Statements and Exhibits. |
(d) Exhibits
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Current Report on Form 8-K and the attached press release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements related to: the Company’s pre-clinical and clinical development plans and timing expectations; expectations related to the cost and timing of the Company’s portfolio prioritization and strategic restructuring; the Company’s expected cash runway, including the potential impact of the portfolio prioritization and strategic restructuring on the Company’s expected cash runway; the potential impact of the portfolio prioritization and strategic restructuring on the Company’s operations and development timelines; the therapeutic applications and potential of the Company’s technology; the Company’s plans, and anticipated timing, to advance its clinical trials and programs; the Company’s ability to seek, establish and maintain a collaboration or partnership to develop its programs with a collaborator or partner; and the Company’s ability to develop life-long, curative, precision genetic medicines for patients through base editing. Each forward-looking statement is subject to important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statement, including, without limitation, risks and uncertainties related to: risks related to the Company’s ability to successfully achieve the benefits of the portfolio prioritization and strategic restructuring; the Company’s ability to develop, obtain regulatory approval for, and commercialize its product candidates, which may take longer or cost more than planned; the Company’s ability to raise additional funding, which may not be available; the Company’s ability to obtain, maintain and enforce patent and other intellectual property protection for its product candidates; the potential impact of pandemics and other health emergencies, including their impact on the global supply chain; the uncertainty that the Company’s product candidates will receive regulatory approval necessary to initiate human clinical studies; that preclinical testing of the
