Editas sells future CRISPR licensing fees from Vertex: DRI Healthcare Trust is paying $57 million upfront to the gene editing company in exchange for future licensing payments from Vertex, which struck an agreement with Editas to use its CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing for its sickle cell and beta thalassemia therapy Casgevy. DRI will get between $5 million and $40 million a year, plus a “mid-double-digit percentage” of Editas’ portion of a $50 million payment that it may get from Vertex. (Some of the licensing payments also go to the Broad Institute and Harvard.) Editas’ stock $EDIT was up about 4% on Friday morning. — Lei Lei Wu
Oncolytics Biotech lays out 2025 plan for cancer drug: After sharing positive data from the BRACELET-1 trial investigating pelareorep in breast cancer, the company said Friday it plans to start a registrational study of pelareorep plus paclitaxel in HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer in the first half of next year. Following the announcement, the company’s stock $ONCY rose about 5% on Friday morning. — Katherine Lewin