Octagon Therapeutics Shuts Down Operations
Octagon Therapeutics, an autoimmune disease biotech company, has announced it is winding down operations as of April 29, 20251. The decision follows two major challenges:
the deprioritization of the company's lead B cell immunomodulator program and unresolved biology questions surrounding a high-potential pipeline effort12.
The announcement was made by co-founder and CEO Isaac Stoner on LinkedIn on Monday12. Octagon had previously pivoted from developing antibiotics for multidrug-resistant infections to focus on autoimmune and inflammatory diseases1. This strategic shift was based on evidence that the company could suppress cells causing autoimmune disease without disrupting healthy immune activities by restoring the activity of immune checkpoint receptors1.
Octagon's most advanced program was OCT50, designed to suppress autoreactive B cells that drive autoimmune conditions like lupus and multiple sclerosis by restoring the natural regulatory role of Siglec-21. The company had reached the development candidate selection stage for this program before shutting down1. Their next most advanced asset, OCT102, was still at the target validation stage and was designed to suppress inflammatory cytokine secretion in certain inflammatory diseases1.
The biotech had raised $11 million in 2024 and had formed a research alliance with Novo Nordisk in 2022 after participating in Novo's Co-creation Greenhouse accelerator program1. Despite this backing, the company has joined the growing list of biotech companies that have announced layoffs or shutdowns in 20253.
Sources:
1. https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/octagon-shuts-down-after-rd-challenges-put-it-behind-8-ball
2. https://endpts.com/octagon-therapeutics-shuts-down-after-unresolved-biology-questions/
3. https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/fierce-biotech-layoff-tracker-2025