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CRSP's Q3 Loss Narrower Than Expected, Sales Miss Estimates

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CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP - Free Report) incurred a third-quarter 2024 loss of $1.01 per share, which was narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $1.33. In the year-ago period, the company incurred a loss of $1.41 per share.

Total revenues, though negligible, were entirely from grant revenues, which amounted to $0.6 million in the quarter. The reported figure significantly missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.4 million. CRSP did not generate revenues during the year-ago period.

More on CRSP’s Earnings

Research and development expenses fell 9% year over year to $82.2 million. This was due to reduced variable external research and manufacturing costs.

General and administrative expenses declined 5% year over year to $17.4 million in the quarter.

Collaboration expenses in the quarter amounted to $11.2 million, down 52% year over year. The downside was primarily due to the time it took to reach the deferral limit on costs related to the Casgevy program.

As of Sept. 30, 2024, the company had cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities and accounts receivables of $1.9 billion compared with $2.0 billion as of June 30, 2024.

Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics have lost 19.5% in the year-to-date period compared with the industry’s decline of 3.8%.

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CRSP’s Pipeline & Other Updates

CRISPR and partner Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ (VRTX - Free Report) one-shot ex-vivo gene therapy, Casgevy, was approved in late 2023/early 2024 for two blood disorders — sickle cell disease (SCD) and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia (TDT) — in the United States and Europe. VRTX leads the global development and commercialization of Casgevy under the terms of the 2021 agreement with support from CRSP.

Per management, more than 45 authorized treatment centers (ATCs) have been activated globally since mid-October. During its third-quarter earnings release on Monday, Vertex recorded $2 million in product revenues from Casgevy sales after treating the first patient with the gene therapy. On its earnings call, VRTX mentioned that Casgevy has seen a strong launch.

Apart from Casgevy, CRSP is pursuing the development of CRISPR candidates to create novel CAR-T cell therapies. The company is currently focused on prioritizing the development of next-generation CAR-T therapy candidates — CTX112 (targeting CD19-positive B-cell malignancies) and CTX131 (targeting relapsed or refractory solid tumors) — in separate phase I/II studies. Preliminary data from the CTX131 study is expected by the end of 2024.

Management is also exploring the potential of these next-generation candidates in other indications. In August, CRSP announced that it has started two new clinical studies — one evaluating CTX131 for hematological malignancies (including T-cell lymphomas) and another assessing CTX112 in systemic lupus erythematosus indication. It also intends to evaluate CTX112 in other autoimmune indications.

Management is also focusing on in-vivo candidates. CRISPR Therapeutics is currently studying its first two in-vivo candidates, CTX310 and CTX320, in separate phase I clinical studies targeting ANGPTL3 and lipoprotein(a), respectively.

Management intends to further expand this in-vivo pipeline with two more programs, CTX340 (for refractory hypertension) and CTX450 (for acute hepatic porphyria). While IND-enabling studies have already been initiated for both of these candidates, CRISPR expects to start clinical studies in the second half of 2025.

CRSP's Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider

CRISPR Therapeutics currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Some other top-ranked stocks from the sector are Amicus Therapeutics (FOLD - Free Report) and Biogen (BIIB - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

In the past 60 days, estimates for Amicus Therapeutics’ 2024 earnings per share (EPS) have moved up from 21 to 22 cents. EPS estimates for 2025 have increased from 50 to 53 cents during the same period. Year to date, shares of FOLD have lost 17.3%.

FOLD’s earnings beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark once, delivering an average surprise of 23.96%.

In the past 60 days, estimates for Biogen’s 2024 EPS have increased from $16.12 to $16.36. EPS estimates for 2025 have improved from $17.09 to $17.15. Year to date, shares of BIIB have soared 40.9%.

Biogen’s earnings beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark once, delivering an average surprise of 9.99%.

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