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Friday, December 13, 2024

'Editas Realigns Strategy to Focus on In Vivo Gene Editing, Targets Human Proof Of Concept By 2026'

Editas Medicine Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT) announced a strategic realignment to focus on in vivo gene editing.

In vivo refers to studies or experiments conducted on living organisms or cells instead of dead organisms or tissue extracts. The opposite of in vivo is in vitro, which means outside the body or in a laboratory.

The shift is designed to optimize costs, extend its cash runway into the second quarter of 2027, and accelerate its progress toward achieving human proof of concept within two years.

The transition follows recent in vivo preclinical research advancements, including proof of concept in multiple tissue types.

For hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), Editas demonstrated ~40% editing of the HBG1/2 promoter using a proprietary targeted lipid nanoparticle (tLNP).

The single-dose delivery of Cas12a editing machinery directly to human HSCs in mice yielded significant functional outcomes. Within one month, human red blood cells expressed fetal hemoglobin (HbF) at an average of 20%.

The achievement builds on validated HBG1/2 biology from the RUBY trial with Editas’ reni-cel program.

In liver applications, Editas achieved high-efficiency gene editing in non-human primates in collaboration with Genevant.

The company will share detailed preclinical data and development timelines in early 2025.

As part of its transition, Editas announced a workforce reduction, eliminating approximately 65% of its employees over the next six months.

This includes several leadership team members, such as Chief Medical Officer Baisong Mei. The company stated that these changes align with its renewed focus on in vivo therapies.

By restructuring operations and prioritizing its in vivo platform, Editas aims to create a more streamlined and efficient organization.

Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities as of September 30, 2024, were $265.1 million.

The company expects the existing cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, the upfront cash payment from DRI, and the retained portions of the payments payable under the license agreement with Vertex to fund operating expenses and capital expenditures into the second quarter of 2026.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/editas-medicine-realigns-strategy-focus-114440852.html

Macron Names Centrist Bayrou as France’s New Prime Minister

The new premier will need to quickly pass a budget for 2025
The move comes after the previous premier was ousted last week

President Emmanuel Macron picked Francois Bayrou to be France’s new prime minister, calling on a longstanding centrist ally to navigate a fractured political landscape that toppled the previous administration.

Bayrou, who leads the centrist Democratic Movement party known as MoDem, steps into the breach after far-right leader Marine Le Pen allied with a left-wing coalition of lawmakers last week to oust Michel Barnier from office as he attempted to drive a stringent budget through parliament.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-13/macron-names-centrist-bayrou-to-be-new-french-prime-minister

'UnitedHealth stock has plunged since Brian Thompson's murder, CEO now calling for healthcare reform'

UnitedHealth's chief executive on Friday called for the healthcare system to be overhauled, following the emotional and angry reaction many had to the murder of one of the company's senior executives.

In a New York Times op-ed mourning the death of Brian Thompson, CEO Andrew Witty says his company was not deserving of the vitriol it's received.

"We know the health system does not work as well as it should, and we understand people's frustrations with it. No one would design a system like the one we have. And no one did," says Witty. "It's a patchwork built over decades. Our mission is to help make it work better. We are willing to partner with anyone, as we always have - health care providers, employers, patients, pharmaceutical companies, governments and others - to find ways to deliver high-quality care and lower costs."

Witty portrayed Thompson as a caring executive. "When a colleague proposed a new idea to Brian, he would always ask, 'Would you want this for your own family?' If not, end of discussion," he wrote. Thompson pushed the company to build dedicated teams to help the sickest people navigate the health system and fought for preventative health and quality outcomes, Witty said.

UnitedHealth (UNH) stock has spiraled lower since Thompson's death, losing 13% this month and helping drag the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA to six straight days of losses.

https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20241213247/unitedhealth-stock-has-plunged-since-brian-thompsons-murder-the-ceo-now-is-calling-for-healthcare-reform

Nigel Farage Leads Betting To Become Next British PM

by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is heading the betting to become the next British Prime Minister, according to Labrokes’ latest political betting odds.

The odds on Farage have shortened to 5/2, while new Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch is second favourite with odds of 3/1.

The odds on Farage have shortened following a Find Out Now poll found that Reform UK has 24 per cent electorate support, only two-points behind the Tories and one-point ahead of Labour.

Since coming to government, far left Labour’s popularity has nosedived in the wake of a raft of broken campaign promises and downright horrendous policies including imprisoning people for social media posts.

Farage has also just received a massive injection of investment from billionaire property developer, Nick Candy, who vowed to “raise Reform more money than any political party in the UK has ever raised.”

“Nigel will be the next PM,” Candy added, urging “I wouldn’t be doing this if I wasn’t 100 per cent certain of that.”

Several former Conservative Party MPs have also recently defected to Reform.

Reform revived a sizeable chunk of votes, over four million, in the UK general election in July but only secured five parliamentary seats owing to the first past the post system.

One in seven people voted Reform, yet the party ended up with 67 fewer seats than the Liberal Democrats, who received around two percent fewer votes.

In recent days, there have also been rumours that Elon Musk is interested in boosting Reform UK with a gargantuan cash injection.

Musk has denied the rumours but got people talking again when he replied to the above tweet by Farage:

Candy has also claimed that he and Musk are “messaging” each other about Reform UK and Farage, with Candy noting “If Elon wants to give it… then of course Reform would be very interested in that.”him as well.”

“He’s giving us political support,” Farage continued, clarifying that “We have, at this stage, neither solicited or been offered donations,” given that it is illegal for non-UK citizens to donate to MPs.

Musk has repeatedly criticised British Prime Minister Kier Starmer for going “full Stalin” and arresting and even jailing people for posting memes.

* * *

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/nigel-farage-leads-betting-become-next-british-pm

Secret Service opened fire on Trump would-be assassin from 5 feet away, missed every shot

A Secret Service agent was five feet away from wannabe-assassin Ryan Wesley Routh and fired off six shots — all of which failed to hit President-elect Donald Trump’s would-be killer, Fox News host Jesse Watters noted in disbelief Wednesday.

The concerning details about the poor marksmanship of the agent assigned to protect Trump, 78, during a Sept. 15 golf outing in West Palm Beach, Fla., were revealed in a 180-page House assassination task force report released earlier this week.

“He was only five feet away and he missed [Routh] not once, not twice, but six times,” Watters, stunned by the report’s findings, said.

“He missed him six times, from five feet. How does a trained agent who passed the firearms test miss a target five feet away?” the Fox News host wondered.

The agent, whose identity has not been revealed, was “riding along the fence line” of the Trump International Golf Club when he noticed Routh, 58, on the external perimeter, according to the report.

The agent then noticed the barrel of Routh’s rifle sticking through the fence line from a sniper’s nest.

“The special agent, who may have been as close as five feet away from Routh, immediately responded by firing shots toward the suspect,” the report stated. “It is believed six shots in total were fired; however, final ballistics are pending an ongoing FBI investigation.”

Routh, 58, fled the scene unharmed and was apprehended by local law enforcement about 40 minutes later.

The heavily redacted report noted that “the Secret Service utilized the protective methodology typically used for golf courses” on the day of the assassination attempt, which includes “a layered approach with several rings of protection.”

“On September 15, the Secret Service indicated that there was already a strong security footprint in the form of an inner ring of protection around former President Trump,” the task force report explained.

Despite not being able to hit Routh, the report commended the Secret Service agent’s quick action.

“[T]he diligence of and successful scanning by the special agent conducting [redacted] of former President Trump provided a critical line of defense to avert a disaster that day,” the report stated.

“The special agent’s quick response and decision to discharge his firearm in the direction of the threat prevented a potentially lethal or other dangerous scenario from occurring.”

Routh, who is facing five federal charges including attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, did not fire his rifle after being spotted and shot at.

A Secret Service spokesperson did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

https://nypost.com/2024/12/12/us-news/fox-news-host-floored-by-revelation-that-secret-service-opened-fire-on-trumps-would-be-assassin-from-five-feet-away-and-missed-every-shot/