News: CSL UPDATE 1-Gene therapy maker UniQure to cut about 20% of workforce

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Oct 5 (Reuters) - Dutch gene therapy maker uniQure UQ1.F said on Thursday it would cut about 20% of its total workforce, or about 114 jobs, and end investments in more than half of its research and technology projects to reduce costs.

The restructuring will not affect the manufacturing of multi-million-dollar gene therapy Hemgenix for CSL Behring, a unit of Australian drugmaker CSL Ltd (CSL) , uniQure said.

UniQure expects to generate savings of about $180 million over the next three years through the restructuring.

The company had cash, cash equivalents and investment securities of $628.6 million as of June 30, to fund operations into the second quarter of 2027, it said on Thursday.

CSL had acquired exclusive global rights to Hemgenix, the world's most expensive treatment, in June 2020 from uniQure, which retains the rights to future milestones totaling up to $1.5 billion and maintain an interest in the therapy's royalties.

CSL late last year gained the U.S. health regulator's approval for Hemgenix, a one-time gene therapy used for treating a rare genetic blood clotting disorder, and set its list price at $3.5 million.

UniQure plans to focus on gene therapies targeting central nervous system and liver-related diseases, including its drug candidates in development for Huntington's disease, Fabry disease and a form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Chief Scientific Officer Ricardo Dolmetsch will leave the company as part of the restructuring, uniQure said.