Editas Medicine (EDIT)
From Technology & Opportunity
Editas Medicine (EDIT) is a genetic engineering company that originally spawned from five scientific founders considered world leaders in the fields of genome editing with specific expertise in CRISPR/Cas9 and TALEN technology. The all-star group of academics includes Feng Zhang of MIT, George Church and J. Keith Joung of Harvard Medical School, David R. Liu of Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Jennifer Doudna of Berkeley.
Editas recently emerged the victor of a crucial lawsuit—which determined whether Editas (or rival Intellia) was the rightful owner of the gene-editing technology, CRISPR-Cas9. That is, it has control over the IP related to human cells—which is arguably the most important.
Following the decision, Editas quickly struck a research and development deal with Allergan.
As part of the deal, Editas will receive $90 million in exchange for giving Allergan the option to
license up to five programs targeting eye disease.
The news was enough to send Editas up about 45% within a three-day trading period, though
shares have since cooled off a bit. As it stands, Editas is up 25% in the last month. We rate Editas Medicine (EDIT) a “Buy” under $27.00. The risk level is “Medium-High”
Jason Stutman, Technology & Opportunity, www.angelpub.com, 877-303-4529, April 2017