By Paul Ziobro
Editas Medicine is pivoting its strategy around gene-edited medicines, resulting in elimination of 65% of its workforce
The Cambridge, Mass.-based company on Thursday said it will now focus on in vivo Crispr-edited medicines based on its researchers recent scientific progress in multiple tissues.
At the same time, it is ending development of reni-cel after extensive search did not yield a commercial partner.
"Recent scientific breakthroughs by the Editas team have convinced us that the timelines around the near-term viability of in vivo Crispr-edited medicines have accelerated meaningfully," Chief Executive Gilmore O'Neill said. "Based on these advances, we are transitioning to a fully in vivo company."
The transition comes after recent in vivo pre-clinical proof on concept in multiple issues, including hematopoietic stem cells and liver.
Editas will cut the jobs in over the next six months. Chief Medical Officer Baisong Mei will leave as part of the job cuts, as will other members of the management team.
The company said the changes will extend its cash runway to the second quarter of 2027.
Write to Paul Ziobro at paul.ziobro@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 12, 2024 16:22 ET (21:22 GMT)
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