University City biotech Century Therapeutics is cutting 72 jobs, about half its workforce

Century Therapeutics, a University City biotech that wants to use adult stem cells to create cell therapies to fight cancer and autoimmune disease, said in two regulatory filings this week that it is cutting its workforce by 51%, eliminating 72 jobs.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday, the company described the cuts as “part of a broader effort to right size the organization to focus on programs with the highest potential for transformational value,” but did not provide details.

A layoff notice to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry said that 54 of the people losing their jobs are Pennsylvania residents.

Two executives are among those impacted by the cuts. The company’s chief financial officer, Morgan Conn, is leaving Friday. Chief development officer Adrienne Farid will leave July 31, the SEC filing said.

“We are deeply grateful for the dedication and contributions of all affected employees and departing executives,” Century CEO Brent Pfeiffenberger said in a statement Friday. ”We did not make these decisions lightly, and we are committed to supporting our team members through this transition.”

In March, Century dosed its first patient in a clinical trial for a certain kind of autoimmune disease and now has five trial locations in the United States recruiting patients, the company said in May. The company was founded here in 2018.

Separately this week, Century filed a regulatory notice saying that it might sell up to $200 million in securities to pay for continued research and development efforts. At the end of March, Century had enough cash to keep itself going into the fourth quarter of next year.

Last month, another Philadelphia biotech, Tmunity Therapeutics, told state regulators that it was closing, eliminating 14 jobs. The company, spun out of Penn in 2015, was acquired by a subsidiary of Gilead Co. in 2023.