Layoff
May 2023Announced a reduction in force; the Q1 2023 filing recognized $1.1 million of severance expense tied to the RIF and said headcount would be reduced.
SourceCompany research
Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals
Updated Jul 30, 2026
Overview
Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company founded in 2020 in Carlsbad to discover and develop oral antivirals for viral diseases, starting with COVID-19. Its lead asset was pomotrelvir (formerly PBI-0451), but after a phase 2 miss in April 2023 the company suspended development, pursued strategic alternatives, and was acquired by MediPacific in August 2023.
Primary product
Pomotrelvir (formerly PBI-0451), an oral direct-acting antiviral for COVID-19
Founded
2020
Headquarters
Carlsbad, California, United States
Team size
51 total employees
Work style
Remote
Industry
Biotechnology
Sub-industry
Clinical-stage biopharmaceuticals / antiviral drug discovery
Offices
Carlsbad, California, United States
Berkeley, California, United States
Business model
drug discovery and development
clinical-stage biopharmaceutical R&D
potential licensing / commercialization of oral antivirals
Funding
Stage
public via SPAC; later taken private
Total raised
$325.6M
Latest round
SPAC business combination / PIPE · Dec 2021
Latest amount
$274M
SPAC business combination / PIPE
Dec 2021 · Foresite Capital
Jan 2021 · Foresite Capital
People & investors
Leadership
Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Board
Chief Financial Officer
Chief Commercial Officer
Founder, Board Member, Strategic and Scientific Advisor
Work & culture
Mission-driven, science-first, and remote-first, with public signals of a collaborative biotech culture focused on solving pandemic-sized problems and preserving work-life balance.
Work style
Remote
Compensation
Public salary data is sparse. Third-party profiles describe compensation as competitive, with benefits such as health coverage, 401(k), PTO, and performance bonuses, but no verified salary bands were publicly disclosed.
Benefits
remote work
health coverage
401(k)
paid time off
performance bonuses
company-sponsored training / courses
Product & market
Differentiators
- —Oral, direct-acting antiviral designed to be easy to prescribe
- —Structure-based drug design paired with a tunable reversible covalent chemistry platform
- —Broader coronavirus activity rather than a single-variant program
- —Patient-friendly positioning that referenced telehealth and at-home diagnostics
Technology
structure-based drug design
reversible covalent chemistry
oral antiviral discovery
telehealth-enabled patient journey
at-home diagnostics
Competitors
Pfizer (Paxlovid)
Merck/Ridgeback (molnupiravir)
Gilead Sciences (Veklury/remdesivir)
Shionogi (Xocova)
Scale & contact
Estimated revenue
pre-revenue
Signals & risks
Other
Apr 2023Suspended further clinical development of pomotrelvir and wound down all research and development activities after the phase 2 readout missed its primary endpoint.
SourceAcquisition
Jul 2023Entered a definitive merger agreement with MediPacific for about $2.02 to $2.19 per share in cash plus a CVR tied to future monetization of antiviral assets.
SourceLatest news
Pardes Biosciences / GlobeNewswire · Aug 2023
Pardes announced that MediPacific had completed the tender offer; the company became a wholly owned subsidiary and its shares ceased trading on Nasdaq.
Pardes Biosciences / GlobeNewswire · Jul 2023
Pardes announced a definitive merger agreement with MediPacific, including cash consideration plus a CVR tied to future monetization of COVID-19 assets.
Pardes Biosciences / GlobeNewswire · May 2023
The company reported Q1 2023 results, disclosed a reduction in force, and said it was winding down R&D activities while reviewing strategic alternatives.
Reuters · Apr 2023
Reuters reported that Pardes would suspend further development of pomotrelvir after the phase 2 trial failed to meet its primary endpoint and that the company would explore strategic alternatives.
Pardes Biosciences / GlobeNewswire · Mar 2023
The company reported 2022 results, reaffirmed pomotrelvir progress at the time, and said cash on hand was expected to fund operations for 12 months.
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