6 days ago
Sarepta to cut 500 jobs after gene therapy setback
July 16 (Reuters) - Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT.O), opens new tab said on Wednesday it would lay off 36% of its workforce, or about 500 employees, after two recent deaths of patients who had received its gene therapy, Elevidys.
Shares of the company rose 58% in extended trading.
The company has faced heightened regulatory scrutiny after two patients treated with the muscle disorder therapy died from acute liver failure, casting doubts on the treatment's safety and future demand.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has requested that the prescribing information for Elevidys should include a black box warning, the regulator's most serious, for acute liver injury and acute liver failure. Sarepta said it agrees with this change.
