By Stephen Nakrosis

Biopharmaceutical company Nkarta said it was terminating the employment of Chief Financial Officer Alyssa Levin, amid a wider restructuring and workforce reduction.

Nadir Mahmood, the company's president, will succeed Levin as the company's principal financial officer and principal accounting officer.

Nkarta also said it was reducing its workforce by 34%, or 53 positions, which includes freezing some future hires. The move is intended to extend the company's cash runway by over a year, Nkarta said.

The company added the restructuring prioritizes investment in clinical execution, and will affect every level of the organization, including cutting the executive leadership team by over half.

Nkarta said it expects to incur about $5.5 million to $6.5 million in expenses from the workforce reduction, due mostly to cash severance costs, benefits, payroll taxes and other termination costs. The workforce reduction is expected to be substantially completed by the end of this year, the company added.

Nkarta said it will direct primary resources to the development of NKX019 for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, adding the workforce reduction will allow it to decrease costs and create a more streamlined organization to enable achievement of clinical milestones for the treatment.

Nkarta shares rose 6.5% to $1.46 in after hours trading. The stock closed the day's regular trading session at $1.37, down 4.2%

Write to Stephen Nakrosis at stephen.nakrosis@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 26, 2025 16:49 ET (20:49 GMT)

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