Editas to Lay Off 65 Percent of Staff, Shifts Focus to In Vivo Gene Editing

Rare Daily Staff

Gene editing company Editas Medicine said it will eliminate about 65 percent of its staff as part of an effort to extend its cash runway to the second quarter of 2027 and accelerate the timeline for achieving in vivo human proof of concept to approximately two years.

“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. Two years ago, we laid out our strategy and objective to become a leader in in vivo programmable gene editing,” said Gilmore O’Neill, president and CEO of Editas Medicine. “Based on these advances, we are transitioning to a fully in vivo company.

The company stated that its transition follows recent in vivo pre-clinical proof of concept achieved across multiple tissues.

In vivo editing of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) is expected to enable targeting of extrahepatic tissues and cell types beyond HSCs, demonstrating the potential for a ‘plug-and-play’ approach with the company’s in vivo extrahepatic lipid nanoparticle platform.

Editas said the headcount reduction will occur over the next six months. As part of the reduction, the company said several members of the Editas management team will leave the company during that time including Baisong Mei, Editas’ chief medical officer.

Emma Reeve and Meeta Chatterjee, are resigning from the board of directors effective December 31, 2024. Jessica Hopfield has been named chair of the board effective December 31, 2024.

Photo: Gilmore O’Neill, president and CEO of Editas Medicine