Editas Medicine Inc. is laying off 20% of its workforce about 60 people as it cuts drug programs geared toward retinal diseases and solid tumors.
The Cambridge gene-editing company (Nasdaq: EDIT) now exclusively focuses its clinical-stage programs on blood-disorder drugs, specific treatments for severe sickle cell disease, and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia. Editas will also retain an early-stage research team for new in vivo gene therapies.
The cuts primarily affect the teams working on the drugs that have been discontinued: one for the eye disorder Leber Congenital Amaurosis 10; another for a specific type of the eye disorder retinitis pigmentosa; and a third for solid tumors.
