Employers
EyePoint, a Watertown, Massachusetts, drug developer focused on retinal diseases, plans to cut about 53% of its workforce after a pivotal trial of its lead drug candidate in wet age-related macular degeneration missed its primary goal. The company announced the plan Monday, Oct. 19, the same day it reported the trial results.
According to a Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, EyePoint’s board approved what the company calls a strategic prioritization plan on Saturday, Oct. 17, after reviewing topline results from LUCIA, the second of two Phase 3 trials testing its drug candidate DURAVYU in wet AMD. LUCIA did not meet its primary endpoint of non-inferiority, although the company said it met key secondary endpoints, including reducing treatment burden.
How many jobs
EyePoint did not give a number of affected employees. It said the reduction covers about 53% of positions across the organization. The company’s most recent annual report said it had 214 employees as of Feb. 27, 2026, all full-time and all in the United States. Headcount may have changed since then, and the company has not said how many people the reduction will affect.
The company said the substantial majority of the reduction will take place in the fourth quarter of 2026, with the rest completed in the first half of 2027. EyePoint estimates about $9 million in charges for employee separation benefits, including severance. It expects most of those charges in the fourth quarter of 2026, with the remainder recognized through the third quarter of 2027, and nearly all of them paid in cash.
EyePoint expects the plan, along with other operating changes, to save about $30 million a year. It estimated it had about $118 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments as of Sept. 30.
What the company will focus on
The company will end its Phase 3 wet AMD trials early, without completing the second year of each study, and put its resources into testing DURAVYU in diabetic macular edema, which the company describes as the leading cause of vision loss in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Two Phase 3 trials in that condition, called COMO and CAPRI, enrolled 551 patients in total. EyePoint expects topline results in the fourth quarter of 2027.
“Decisions involving a reduction in our workforce are exceptionally difficult, and we extend our deepest gratitude to our departing colleagues for their dedication and meaningful contributions,” said Jay S. Duker, EyePoint’s president and chief executive. He said the plan lets the company focus on the diabetic macular edema readout.
Where the jobs are
EyePoint is headquartered in Watertown and runs a commercial manufacturing facility in Northbridge, Massachusetts. The company did not say which functions or sites the cuts will affect. According to its annual report, none of its employees are represented by a union, and its voluntary turnover rate in 2025 was 6.56%, which the company said was below the average for Boston-area biotech companies.
What remains uncertain
Several details are still open. EyePoint has not said how many people will lose their jobs, which roles or sites are affected, or whether it will file layoff notices with Massachusetts officials. Its cash figure is also preliminary: the company said the estimate has not been reviewed by its independent auditor and could change when quarterly financial statements are completed.
The company is not abandoning DURAVYU. EyePoint said no drug-related safety concerns have been seen in more than 630 patients across six completed clinical trials, and it pointed to its Phase 2 VERONA study in diabetic macular edema, in which more than 70% of patients did not need supplemental injections for six months. The company’s next major milestone is the COMO and CAPRI readout it expects in the fourth quarter of 2027.
Sources
- EyePoint, Inc., Form 8-K (Items 2.02, 2.05, 8.01), filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, October 19, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1314102/000119312526424755/eypt-20261017.htm
- EyePoint, Inc., “EyePoint Announces Strategic Prioritization,” Exhibit 99.1 press release (GLOBE NEWSWIRE), October 19, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1314102/000119312526424755/eypt-ex99_1.htm
- EyePoint, Inc., Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, filed March 5, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1314102/000119312526093917/eypt-20251231.htm
Featured photo: Sunset on Arsenal Street in Watertown, Massachusetts, Oct. 1, 2024. Representative image; not EyePoint's headquarters. Photo: 4300streetcar, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). Cropped from the original.
