--- title: 'Industry Daily Summary: What Happened on October 7, 2026' headline: Caribou Biosciences to close after failing to fund Phase 3 trial description: Insmed is looking for a new finance chief, and Iovance appointed Noah Berkowitz as chief medical officer. url: https://thebench.bio/news/industry/2026-10-07 topic: industry date: '2026-10-07' covers: - '2026-10-07' date_published: '2026-10-07T12:03:24Z' date_modified: '2026-10-07T12:03:24Z' sources: 2 publisher: The Bench (thebench.bio) --- # Industry Daily Summary: What Happened on October 7, 2026 **Caribou Biosciences to close after failing to fund Phase 3 trial** Insmed is looking for a new finance chief, and Iovance appointed Noah Berkowitz as chief medical officer. ## Today in brief Caribou Biosciences will close and discontinue clinical development of its two CRISPR-based CAR-T therapies after failing to raise money for a planned Phase 3 lymphoma trial. [1] The company had worked with the FDA on the trial design. CEO Rachel Haurwitz told STAT that raising the funds proved too difficult. [1] ## Caribou will stop work on two CAR-T therapies Caribou Biosciences said it is shutting down after it could not secure funding for a Phase 3 trial of its off-the-shelf CAR-T therapy for lymphoma. [1] The company plans to end clinical development of two CRISPR-based CAR-T therapies, including vispa-cel for advanced B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. [1] Caribou worked with the FDA over the past year to finalize a Phase 3 design for vespa-cel. [1] CEO Rachel Haurwitz told STAT that raising the money to run the study was too difficult. [1] ## Also worth knowing - Insmed is seeking a replacement for Sara Bonstein, who is scheduled to step down October 30 after nearly seven years as CFO. [2] - During Bonstein's tenure, Insmed raised more than $4.2 billion. [2] - Iovance appointed Noah Berkowitz as chief medical officer, replacing Friedrich Graf Finckenstein, who moved to Link Cell Therapies. [2] ## Also published - [Adecto, Aviceda wind down, as Caribou seeks options](), pharmaphorum - [Top biotech deals in September 2026](), Labiotech ## Sources 1. [STAT+: Caribou Biosciences, biotech co-founded by Jennifer Doudna, is shutting down](), STAT Biotech, 2026-10-07 2. [Insmed seeking CFO, plus C-suite additions for Iovance, Vir](), BioCentury, 2026-10-07 --- The Bench wrote this from the reporting cited above, with a language model drafting and editing. [1]: [2]: