CRSP - CRISPR Therapeutics Just Made History. So Why Did Its Stock Fall?
2023-12-16 09:45:00 ET
On Dec. 8, CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CRSP) and its collaboration partner Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) made history when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave them the green light to commercialize their gene therapy for sickle cell disease (SCD), which is the first medicine to use the much vaunted CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology. The therapy, called Casgevy, is a functional cure for SCD for most patients, and it's also the company's first product to reach the market.
With those two major thresholds cleared, under normal circumstances the stock would be flying. But from Dec. 7, a day before the approval, to Dec. 12, CRISPR's shares fell by 16%. One of the company's main competitors, Bluebird Bio , also got its gene therapy for SCD approved on the same day, and its shares are taking an even harsher punishment, falling by 36%. To complicate matters further, shares of Vertex tracked the market's flat performance in the same period.
So what's going on?
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CRISPR Therapeutics Just Made History. So Why Did Its Stock Fall?