EDIT - Editas rises on Q4 revenue beat gene-editing therapy data for sickle cell disease by mid-year

Editas Medicine ( NASDAQ: EDIT ) stock rose ~6% on Wednesday after Q4 revenue beat estimates.

Q4 net loss widened to -$60.74M, compared to -$41.44M in the year ago period.

Collaboration and other research and development revenues declined -47.6% Y/Y to $6.54M, but surpassed analysts expectations. The company said that the decline in revenue was mainly due to a decrease in collaboration related milestones.

Research and development expenses increased to $52M, compared to from $37.55 in Q4 2021. The increase was mainly linked to increased clinical and manufacturing investment in the company's EDIT-301 program and a one-time charge incurred due to pausing internal investment in EDIT-101.

In November 2022, Editas Medicine said it was pausing enrollment in a phase 1/2 trial of EDIT-101, a CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing therapy being developed for blindness due to Leber congenital amaurosis 10 (LCA 10), to find a collaboration partner.

Editas said in its earnings release on Wednesday that it remains on track to present a clinical update from a phase 1/2 trial, dubbed RUBY, by mid-2023. The company is evaluating the CRISPR/Cas9-based therapy EDIT-301 in the RUBY study to treat sickle cell disease.

EDIT-301 is also being evaluated for transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia in a phase 1/2 trial called EDITHAL, results from which are expected by year end.

Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities as of Dec. 31, 2022, were $437.4M, compared to $478.5M as of Sept. 30, 2022, and $619.9M as of Dec. 31, 2021.

Editas expects the money to fund operating expenses and capital expenditures into 2025.

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