Generation Bio to lay off 68 employees in a difficult year for non-viral gene therapy biotechs

Ge­net­ic med­i­cines mak­er Gen­er­a­tion Bio will lay off 68 work­ers, in­clud­ing two mem­bers of its ex­ec­u­tive team, and will shrink its R&D scope to ex­tend its run­way by 18 months, CEO Ge­off Mc­Do­nough told End­points News.

Wednes­day’s an­nounce­ment of the 40% work­force re­duc­tion serves as an­oth­er blow to the non-vi­ral gene ther­a­py field, which has seen pri­vate star­tups like Sum­ma­tion Bio and In­ter­galac­tic Ther­a­peu­tics shut­ter this year (there have al­so been a few fi­nanc­ings). Gen­er­a­tion Bio formed in 2016 with the aim of de­liv­er­ing the first non-vi­ral gene ther­a­py and had hoped to be in the clin­ic last year, but poor an­i­mal da­ta in 2021 set it back.

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