EL7.AI
StocksMedium•22 October 2026•
4 min read

EyePoint plans to cut 53% of workforce after eye treatment trial fails

Key Facts

1EyePoint adopted a plan to cut about 53% of its workforce.
2The company expects annual savings of about $30 million from the reprioritization and operational changes.
3The company estimates severance, compensation and related expenses at about $9 million.
4The company estimated cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments at about $118 million as of September 30, 2026.
5The company expects results from the COMO and CAPRI trials for diabetic macular edema in the fourth quarter of 2027.

EyePoint Pharmaceuticals adopted a plan to cut about 53% of its workforce as part of a reprioritization announced on October 19, 2026, following the failure of its LUCIA trial for wet age-related macular degeneration. The company said the trial failed to meet its primary endpoint of demonstrating statistical non-inferiority in improvement in best-corrected visual acuity compared with aflibercept. The outcome came despite participants recording improvements in vision, according to the trial results statement. Describing the outcome, the company said the study "did not meet the primary endpoint," the benchmark it had sought to demonstrate against the other treatment. According to Benzinga, the company will end both pivotal wet age-related macular degeneration trials early, without completing the second year of follow-up for either.

EyePoint expects the reprioritization and accompanying operational changes to generate estimated annual savings of about $30 million, according to its statement. It estimates severance, compensation and related expenses at about $9 million. The measures follow the company's announcement that cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities stood at $180 million at the end of June 2026, compared with $223 million at the end of March of the same year. In its latest estimate, the company put cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments at about $118 million as of September 30, 2026. The reprioritization plan thus combines lower annual operating expenses with costs associated with implementing the layoffs, according to the company's announced estimates.

On the LUCIA results, EyePoint said the trial achieved a 38% reduction in treatment burden compared with the aflibercept group. It added that 52% of participating eyes required no supplemental injections through week 56. The proportion of eyes receiving zero or one supplemental injection was 71% over the same measurement period, according to the company. The LUCIA trial enrolled 475 patients, compared with 432 in the LUGANO trial, according to the results statement. The earlier LUGANO trial had also failed to meet its primary endpoint in an analysis of the full dataset, with the LUCIA outcome following the setback in the program's other trial.

EyePoint had previously aimed to submit a new drug application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the first half of 2027. The company had tied that potential timing to the LUCIA results, according to its earlier statement on the LUGANO results. The subsequent trial's failure to meet the primary endpoint came before it proceeded along that intended regulatory path. DURAVYU, which the company is developing, remains an investigational treatment that has not received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. EyePoint said in its financial results statement that "DURAVYU is an investigational product; it has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration."

In the market, Investing reported that LUCIA's failure sent EyePoint shares down about 85% at the close. The website said the stock fell from $2.99 to $0.44 following the trial results. On analyst ratings, Jefferies downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy, according to separate coverage by the website. The firm lowered its price target to $1.00 from $8.00 alongside the rating change following the LUCIA results. In the October 21, 2026, session, shares of the company, which trades under the ticker EYPT, closed at $0.43, according to EL7 data.

According to EyePoint's announced timetable, the vast majority of the workforce cuts are expected to take place in the fourth quarter of 2026. The company expects to complete the reductions in the first half of 2027, leaving the layoffs as a plan being implemented in stages. In reallocating its resources, the company is shifting its focus to its diabetic macular edema program. Development of DURAVYU for the disease continues alongside the early termination of the two wet age-related macular degeneration trials. EyePoint expects topline results from the COMO and CAPRI trials for diabetic macular edema in the fourth quarter of 2027.