Gene-editing firms rise after Lilly strikes deal to acquire Verve Therapeutics

Crispr Therapeutics AG

17/06/2025 16:34

** Gene-editing firms rise after Eli Lilly LLY.N struck a deal to acquire Verve Therapeutics VERV.O for a transaction valued at up to $1.3 billion to access VERV's experimental cardiovascular therapies

** Shares of Beam Therapeutics BEAM.O, Intellia Therapeutics NTLA.O and Crispr Therapeutics CRSP.O rise ~6%, 11.5% and 7.5%, respectively

** Brokerage Bernstein sees upside to the partnership between BEAM and NTLA and their large biopharma partners such as Regeneron REGN.O and Pfizer PFE.N and does not expect BEAM and NTLA to be acquisition targets

** The brokerage calls the deal "overall great news" for the sector

** Brokerage William Blair said that the Lilly buyout reads through positively due to the gene-editing space facing a difficult macro environment amid a funding crunch

** Including session's moves, YTD performance varies widely: VERV up 95.8%, CRSP up ~14%, while NTLA down 14% and BEAM down 29%

 (Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan)

 ((Padmanabhan.Ananthan@thomsonreuters.com))