As Nick Leschly counts down his final month as chief bluebird — before taking on the new role of 2seventy CEO — he has unveiled a key hire and a couple of updates.

The planned spinout, which is now set to take place in mid-October, will split the current bluebird into two companies, keeping the rare disease and gene therapy pipeline under the original bluebird moniker while Leschly steers the ship at oncology-focused newco 2seventy. Following “an intense period” of internal prep work, it’s time to share plans with outsiders, he said.

Going to space wasn’t enough. Middle-aged billionaire Jeff Bezos wants to extend human life — and to do so, he’s reportedly backing the latest entrant into Silicon Valley’s burgeoning race to slow aging.

A stealthy biotech called Altos Labs launched earlier this year with at least $270 million and a slate of longevity experts on board to pursue biological reprogramming technology, according to a scoop by the MIT Technology Review. Unnamed sources told the Technology Review that Altos will establish sites in the Bay Area, San Diego, Cambridge, UK, and Japan. In addition to Bezos, the operation is also rumored to be backed by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, who’s invested in Facebook and Twitter.

Exelixis is grieving the loss of two longtime executives this week, one of whom succumbed to a lengthy battle with cancer and the other of whom had been on medical leave since June.

Gisela Schwab, Exelixis’ soft-spoken CMO of the last 15 years, passed away over the weekend, CEO Michael Morrissey announced on Monday. Although it’s unclear what caused her death, the oncologist took a medical leave of absence back on June 18. The news comes days after the passing of Jon Berndt, Exelixis’ senior VP of sales.

Two of the FDA’s most senior vaccine leaders are exiting from their positions, raising fresh questions about the Biden administration and the way that it’s sidelined the FDA.

Marion Gruber, director of the FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research & Review and 32-year veteran of the agency, will leave at the end of October, and OVRR deputy director Phil Krause, who’s been at FDA for more than a decade, will leave in November. The news, first reported by BioCentury, is a massive blow to confidence in the agency’s ability to regulate vaccines.

Tal Zaks has found the first gig for his post-Moderna career — which will start just right after his last day at the mRNA powerhouse.

The seasoned exec has been recruited to the board at Teva, serving a one-year stint under chairman Sol Barer as an independent director starting Oct. 1. As announced earlier this year, his departure from Moderna is scheduled for late September, five and a half years since he was first appointed CMO.

Flagship Pioneering — which has built a reputation for stocking its portfolio companies with Big Pharma vets — has raided J&J again for a dealmaker.

Most recently, Jim Jogerst was senior director of business development at Janssen’s infectious diseases and vaccines business. He will now become Rubius Therapeutics’ chief business officer, tasked with identifying partnerships, collaborations and alliances, according to CEO Pablo Cagnoni.