Editas leads a biotech rally of gene editors

 

• In the lackluster market today, the biotech firms focused on CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing stood out with Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT), CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP), and Intellia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NTLA) all recording double-digit gains. 
• Compared to existing methods, the CRISPR/Cas9 system is a faster, accurate, cheaper, and efficient technology for genome editing where genetic material is added/ removed/altered for therapeutic purposes.
• Editas led the pack rising as much as +29.9%. The company recently filed an IND for the initiation of a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of EDIT-301, an experimental CRISPR/Cas12a gene-editing medicine in development for the treatment of sickle cell disease.
• The outperformance can be attributed to the comments made by Cathie Wood, Founder, CEO, and CIO of ARK Investment Management late last week. In an interview with Bloomberg, she projected ‘the biggest upside surprises are going to come from the genomic space’ arguing ‘the convergence of DNA sequencing, artificial intelligence, and gene therapies, importantly Crispr gene editing, is going to cure disease.”
• CRISPR Therapeutics, the biggest holding in ARK Genomic Revolution Multi-Sector ETF (BATS:ARKG), rose only +6.1%. Yet, a cursory look at the fund’s YTD gain demonstrates its outsized performance, with the +183.3% gain far eclipsing the +29.2% gain in the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF.
• https://seekingalpha.com/news/3646408-editas-leads-biotech-rally-of-gene-editors