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Editas (EDIT) Up More Than 100% in Past 3 Months: Here's Why

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Shares of Editas Medicine, Inc. (EDIT - Free Report) have rallied 127.6% in the past three months compared with the industry’s increase of 14.9%.

price chart for EDIT


The company has made rapid progress in the development of its lead pipeline candidate, EDIT-101, in this time frame. This has pushed up Editas’ share price. EDIT-101 employs CRISPR gene editing to treat Leber congenital amaurosis type 10 (LCA10) — a rare genetic illness that causes blindness. Editas completed dosing in the first cohort of the phase I/II BRILLIANCE study, which is evaluating EDIT-101 for LCA10. The disease has a significant unmet need as no therapy is approved yet.

Notably, in December 2020, Editas’ shares appreciated significantly after the company announced preclinical data on EDIT-301 and the successful development of its large-scale manufacturing process for EDIT-301.

Importantly, in August 2020, Editas terminated its 2017 agreement with Allergan [now part of AbbVie (ABBV - Free Report) ] and regained the full global rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize its ocular medicines including EDIT-101.

Earlier this month, the FDA cleared the initiation of the safety phase of Editas’ clinical study on EDIT-301 for the treatment of sickle cell disease (“SCD”). The company is planning to initiate the phase I/II RUBY study to assess the safety and efficacy of EDIT-301 for the given indication.

If successfully developed and upon potential approval, EDIT-101 will be a boost for the company’s growth prospects and will drive the stock further in the days ahead.

Editas is also pursuing the development of CRISPR candidates for eye diseases other than LCA10 including Usher Syndrome type 2A and recurrent ocular Herpes Simplex Virus type 1.

We note that Editas has no approved product in its portfolio at the moment. Therefore, pipeline development remains in key focus for the company. Meanwhile, stiff competition remains a headwind for Editas, as other companies like Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA - Free Report) and CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP - Free Report) are also engaged in developing candidates to address different indications using CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology.

Zacks Rank

Editas currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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