Lyra Therapeutics is abandoning work on its rhinosinusitis treatment and laying off its remaining employees.
The Massachusetts-based biotech had been working on LYR-210 for chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), a condition in which the sinuses become inflamed and swollen for 12 weeks or longer. LYR-210 is a miniaturized, bioresorbable device that is implanted deep in the nasal passages, where it delivers mometasone furoate, an anti-inflammatory steroid, for up to six months.
The treatment was designed to overcome multiple problems with current rhinosinusitis treatments including lack of access to the sinuses, a quick turnover of mucus—which limits how long a drug can stay in the body—and poor patient compliance.
The future of the treatment was thrown into doubt after LYR-210 failed a phase 3 study in 2024, but Lyra persevered and was rewarded with a phase 3 win specifically for CRS patients without nasal polyps in June 2025. Following a meeting with the FDA in September, the biotech agreed that a final late-stage trial was needed before the company could submit the treatment for approval to treat CRS without polyps.
As recently as November, Lyra CEO Maria Palasis, Ph.D., was “excited to move forward with our business strategy and to advance LYR-210 as a novel therapeutic option for millions of CRS patients who fail current medical therapy.”
Lyra ended September with $22.1 million in the bank, which it had expected to fund its strategy until the third quarter of 2026.
But that strategy has been ditched. In a Jan. 12 release, the biotech announced its board of directors had “decided to suspend further development of LYR-210.”
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All 28 of Lyra’s remaining employees will be impacted by a “workforce reduction,” which is one of a number of “cost-saving actions to preserve capital.”
Only Palasis and Chief Financial Officer Jason Cavalier are being retained as consultants to support Lyra’s “pursuit of strategic alternatives.”
“In connection with the company’s review of strategic options, which was announced in May 2024, the board has concluded that it is in the best interests of shareholders to cease Lyra’s product development operations,” Palasis explained.
“Our priority moving forward is to evaluate and explore strategic alternatives to advance LYR-210 for the potential benefit of patients,” the CEO added.
