The Science Boss is back! It's my first day at @endpts, a @FinancialTimes co. I'll be writing news, analysis, and features as the Senior Science Correspondent for Endpoints, with a focus on the science, reseach, and tech of biomed, biotech, and pharma. rcross@endpointsnews.com

There's been a death in a #CRISPR study, something the field has long feared. A man who was recently hospitalized with liver injury a few weeks after receiving Intellia's experimental gene editing therapy died last night. More details in @endpts

Arena BioWorks shuts down after investors pull plug on big bold bet to reinvent biotech, founder @SchreiberStuart confirmed to me. He pointed to biotech macro conditions and also investors seeking bigger returns on AI and tech. My story for @endpts:

Jennifer Doudna's latest startup, Azalea Therapeutics, launched with $82M. It's based on virus like particles developed by CEO Jenny Hamilton and a new CAR-T trick developed by UCSF's Justin Eyquem. Azalea's goal? The ultimate in vivo CAR-T. @endpts -

You can read about about the incredible 6-month race to make Baby KJ's custom CRISPR therapy in my deep dive that I wrote for Endpoints back in May:

Earlier this month I interviewed Kiran Musunuru about his plans for a Phase 1/2 trial that could turn Baby KJ’s one-off therapy into an approvable, repeatable procedure for making custom CRISPR therapies. We'll discuss the details on Post-Hoc Live today.

The scientists behind Baby KJ’s life-saving CRISPR therapy have a plan to help more patients. Join me and @ArmstrongDrew at 9:45 for a conversation with UPenn's Kiran Musunuru and CHOP's Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas to learn more! @endpts

DNA-chopping enzyme that breaks up NETs (neutrophil extracellular traps) may offer new way to fight autoimmune disease, early data from Neutrolis suggest. The company has raised $50M from Morningside. Read more in my latest exclusive for @endpts. #ACR2025

Causeway Therapeutics had developed a synthetic #microRNA therapy that it hopes will heal injured tendons. The company shared its Phase 2 results with me and its plans to raise a large series A for more studies. Read more in my latest story for @endpts -

Halda Therapeutics has made small molecule drugs called RIPTACs that inhibit an essential protein cells need to live, but only in the presence of a second protein that is primarily found in cancer cells. My story for @endpts on the first clinical data:

Remix Therapeutics has revealed the first clinical data of its "mRNA degrader," a small molecule drug that forces the inclusion of a 'kill switch' into mRNA, leading to its destruction. Its first drug targets the undruggable oncogene MYB. More in @endpts:

Arcturus announces mixed results of its inhaled mRNA therapy designed to produce CFTR protein in cystic fibrosis patients. And the FDA is asking for more data before reviewing its Covid-19 vaccine for approval. My story for @endpts has the details:

Starna Therapeutics, a Chinese biotech startup founded by mRNA and LNP scientists, has raised a $44M series B to advance its in vivo CAR-T programs after promising, albeit early, results in lupus and cancer patients. Read more in my exclusive for @endpts:

#CRISPR Therapeutics recently debuted a new gene editing tool called SyNTase editing that it described as 'a significant advance' over prime editing. Prime Medicine disagrees. My latest story for @endpts digs into the details:

British startup Genomics has spent over a decade amassing a human genotype-phenotype database from over 25,000 GWAS studies. Now it is launching a new product to get that data, and software to analyze it, into the hands of drug developers. @endpts -

Exclusive for @endpts: Lipid nanoparticle startup Liberate Bio has emerged with $31M in seed funding from Khosla Ventures and plans to test in vivo cell therapies targeting macrophages and monocytes in the clinic in 2026.

Earlier this year I visited Bexorg to see its brain-in-a-bucket experiments in person. The approach raises many technical and ethical questions which I dug into in my profile of the startup in June. Read more here: https://t.co/IWD4Ey2l7P

The Yale spinout Bexorg has raised a $23M series A for its cutting-edge and unconventional approch to preclinical research: testing drugs on ‘rebooted’ human brains from organ donors. My story for @endpts has the details:

#ESGCT2025 A woman who was previously ineligible for @GenethonFr's Crigler–Najjar syndrome gene therapy due to pre-existing immunity to AAV8 got the treatment after @HansaBiopharma's antibody-chopping drug imlifidase cleared the way. Read more in @endpts: https://t.co/JtMGSWCqu8

At #ESGCT2025, Altos Labs revealed that it is testing anti-aging therapies (partial reprogramming with Yamanaka factors) in organs kept alive outside the body. Read more in my story for @endpts -

At #ESGCT2025, @mammothbiosci presented the first monkey data of its lead program, a gene editing drug that uses its Cas-Phi enzyme to target APOC3 for triglyceride reduction. A clinical trial is planed for the second half 2026. More in @endpts: https://t.co/jLeAW0X3mz @ESGCT