If the liquidity bubble of 2020 and 2021 was the boom for biotech, then the years that followed were the bust. The surprisingly poor sentiment is still lingering in late 2024.

To navigate glacial capital markets, most cash-hungry drug developers pared back ambitious R&D plans to preserve cash and extend their runways. That includes precision medicine pioneer Relay Therapeutics.

In November 2023, the company announced a portfolio optimization strategy to refocus bandwidth on next-generation PI3K-alpha inhibitor RLY-2608. It's easy to see why: the asset is the foundation of the company's ambitious HR-/HER2+ breast cancer pipeline and could compete within a more than $6 billion opportunity.

The decision extended the cash runway at the time by approximately 12 months into the second half of 2026. The primary drivers were slower growth in R&D expenses and a lower headcount as a result of layoffs impacting 15% of the workforce.

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However, the portfolio optimization strategy required pausing other programs, including a duo intended to be paired with RLY-2608 in the future. Relay Therapeutics paused development of RLY-2139, a next-generation CDK2 inhibitor, and RLY-1013, a next-generation selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD). The former had an investigational new drug (IND) application ready, while the latter needed to complete IND-enabling studies.

As of October 2024, RLY-1013 has resumed development. Both programs could begin a phase 1 study 30 days after submitting an IND application assuming regulators provide no feedback.

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