Today, gene editing stocks are once again in focus for investors, in a big way. Indeed, shares of Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT), CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) and Intellia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NTLA) are all up between 9% and 20%.
Indeed, this week has been a very good one for gene editing stocks. Starting on Monday, these stocks have rallied big time. And it appears investors in gene editing technologies have no intention of selling, with volumes remaining well above average for each of these three stocks.
Let’s dive into the news that’s taking this sector on an impressive ride today.
Intellia Breakthrough Driving Gene Editing Stocks Higher
Intellia’s breakthrough this past weekend is the buzz of Wall Street right now. As fellow InvestorPlace contributor Robert Larkin pointed out in a recent piece, this is some big news indeed.
On Saturday, the company announced positive interim results from its ongoing Phase 1 clinical study for its treatment for transthyretin (ATTR) amyloidosis. Its gene editing candidate, NTLA-2001, involves in vivo genome editing. That is, Intellia is attempting to use CRISPR gene editing therapies on internal organs. These positive results are the first of their kind. Accordingly, sentiment around the efficacy of treatments from all gene editing companies is growing increasingly bullish today.
Unsurprisingly, Intellia received analyst upgrades on this news. These upgrades, along with some red-hot investor interest in these stocks, have seen NTLA stock soar from a close of around $88 on Friday to more than $175 at the time of writing. This has been a two-bagger for investors over the past couple days.
Perhaps also unsurprising is Intellia’s attempt to capitalize on this rapid share price increase. The company announced yesterday it would be issuing more stock to raise approximately $600 million to fund its commercialization efforts. One could argue that all the stars are aligning right now for NTLA.
Accordingly, it’s understandable that we’re seeing sector-wide buying activity with both EDIT stock and CRSP stock right now. This sector could go on a nice run here, and investors seem to believe there’s more upside available. Right now, it appears there’s no ceiling on these stocks, as they continue to fly.
On the date of publication, Chris MacDonald did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
