News from the world of technology - CRISPR

News from the world of technology

• Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg highlighted the company's direction to focus on providing devices and platforms that enable the public to enter the Metaverse

• Tesla was removed by an algorithm that selects companies for the S&P500 ESG index. The company also ceased to be the largest holding in the ArkInvest fund, replaced by Roku. 

• Momentus Space received final FAA approval to launch the Vigoride vehicle into space as part of a deal with SpaceX and the Transporter-5 mission.

• Block, a FinTech company owned by Jack Dorsey reported successful testing of the Bitcoin Lightning Network, a network that aims to make Bitcoin a more efficiently convertible electronic money

• Vitalik Buterin with Ethereum developers conveyed that the transition of ETH to version 2.0 will be possible within the next few months, the results in the test environment positively surprised the Ethereum development crew

• The Cardano cryptocurrency community is looking forward to the so-called 'Vasili' hardfork that will improve the scalability and foundation of the project; testing will begin in June. Additionally, the Hydra update will make Cardano the world's fastest blockchain with 1,000,000 possible transactions per second. In comparison, VISA currently processes 65,000 per second. 

Sector of the month 

CRISPR "Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats" gene editing may change the image of medicine and revolutionize the treatment of many incurable diseases, including genetic ones. The phenomenon of CRISPR lies in its repeatability and 'simplicity' of implementation which gives the possibility of rapid growth in the number of treatments. The technology can eliminate some genetic diseases and create a demand market worth hundreds of billions of dollars. The companies we will present have a chance to win the race whose stake is the health of humanity and a milestone in the development of medicine.

• Cas-9's revolutionary CRISPR technology makes it possible to interfere with the human genome while becoming increasingly inexpensive and scalable. According to estimates, nearly 300 million people on Earth suffer from CRISPR-treatable genetic diseases;

• Major pharmaceutical companies like Regeneron and Bayer are co-developing CRISPR and taking on the challenge of combating previously untreatable and deadly diseases;

• Gene editing brought a Nobel Prize to the founders of CRISPR Therapeutics and Intellia Therapeutics. Both companies have already produced drugs approved by US FDA regulators and clinically proven to work;

Why does CRISPR gene editing have potential?

The CRISPR-Cas9 method makes it possible to alter selected parts of the genome by modifying or deleting fragments of DNA.  In the 1990s, the cost of the human genome sequencing process was expensive, costing $2.7 billion and taking nearly 13 years. Today, the cost is nearly $700 and the time has been reduced to a few days. Improving statistics creates opportunities to deliver solutions and research data faster and brings the optimal business model for companies in the industry closer in time. 

In 2020, CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing succeeded in eliminating a defective genetic mutation among humans for the first time. The discovery also earned Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The declining cost of sequencing human genomes has influenced an exponential increase in the popularity of such procedures. As technology advances, the implementation of innovative technologies is becoming more common and less expensive, fostering demand. Source: US Census Bureau, Illumina, NHGRI 2019

How to invest in CRISPR ?

Dozens of companies are involved in gene editing, but only a fraction of them are publicly listed on stock exchanges, and even fewer have significant contracts and attract real interest from major pharmaceutical companies. Investing in CRISPR development involves investing in publicly traded companies that are involved in implementing gene editing. We have selected two publicly traded companies that are past winners of the Fierce15 Genetics and Biotechnology Industry Award. 

Goldman Sachs analysts in Forbes' "How Human Genome Sequencing Went From $1 Billion A Pop To Under $1,000," October 2020, specified that they expect the demand curve for the gene sequencing market to rise dynamically, geometrically.

CRISPR Therapeutics

The company is the world's leading gene editor and was founded in 2012 by Emmanuelle Charpentier, a 2020 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, and Rodger Novak. The company has established partnerships with Bayer and Vertex, among others.

• The collaboration with Bayer resulted in the creation of a 'joint venture' company - Casebia Therapeutics. Bayer has committed to finance the company's activities for a period of 5 years with the amount of USD 300 million. CRISPR Therapeutics holds a 50% stake in Casebia. The company focuses on treating blindness, heart defects and blood diseases with the Cas-9 method, and the partnership has given the company access to 'know-how' and logistical facilities. The German giant has an interest in the success of CRISPR Therapeutics and in driving demand for the new technology. The Bayer corporation has for years been creating the LifeScience Center, whose task is to search for and identify businesses in the revolutionary 'life science' sector;

• The company has already implemented a drug CTX001 approved by Federal Drug Administration (FDA) regulators for beta thalassemia and sickle cell disease. In developing CTX001, it has partnered with Vertex, which has taken a 60% stake in the research program. Vertex has invested $900 million in the program. The estimated value of the program to combat both diseases was approximately $9 billion;

• CRISPR Therapeutics appears to have a well-diversified and complete model of the methods used by using two gene editing methods known as LVP and AAV and licensing LNP technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The company is developing solutions with StrideBio to improve the AAV method and accelerate production;

• The company has no debt and significant cash reserves. CRISPR Therapeutics is an advanced stage startup that has already secured strategic partnerships, interest from institutional capital (Goldman Sachs, Ark Invest, among others) and is on its way to generating positive cash flow.

CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP.US) share price chart, W1 interval. Currently, the company's shares are trading near the long-term, lower limit of the uptrend (red, dashed line), which served as a bullish trigger point in the past. Moreover, looking at the indications of the RSI oscillator, there is a demand divergence, which was depicted on the chart with purple markings. Currently, as the fundamental support levels we can consider the previously mentioned line of the upward trend, as well as levels in the area of 100% Fibo retracement ($32 per share), i.e. the levels of the Covid crash bottom. Local resistances, on the other hand, are the purple dashed line (local downtrend) and the 78.6 retracement, which coincides with the EMA 200 (golden line). Source: xStation 5

Intellia Therapeutics

Intellia was founded by Nessan Bermingham and Jennifer Doudna'e, a 2020 Nobel Prize winner. The company's most significant financial partnerships to date have been with Novartis and Regeneron. Shareholders include investment funds BlackRock, Vanguard and ArkInvest, among others. According to Bloomberg analysts, each of the company's ongoing programs is likely to generate billions of dollars in revenue in the future. The company has proven significant disease-fighting capabilities.

• The most promising is the NTLA-2001 program, with which the company has confirmed its ability to reduce transthyretin amyloidosis. The program has already provided the company with nearly $700 million in revenue. Intellia is pursuing it in partnership with Regeneron. 

• Intellia is working on NTLA-2002 in collaboration with Novartis to combat hereditary subcutaneous edema. The companies are also working on OTQ 923 against sickle cell disease. The program, according to estimates, could provide the company with $5 billion to $6 billion in revenue. Further partnerships Intellia has extended with Cellex and Blackstone, with whom it focuses on so-called allogeneic universal therapies. Intellia operates on the American market. It is the only company in the industry with a program to combat acute leukemia, NTLA-5001, and its potential revenue value in the U.S. market is estimated at $6 billion to $8 billion. Similar to CRISPR Therapeutics, Intellia uses LNP and AAV methods. Together with Regeneron, the company is also exploring a 'hybrid' LNP-AAV delivery method, which it could potentially gain an advantage with.

• The company has approximately $1 billion in cash reserves, which are estimated to completely cover its operating expenses by the end of 2023. According to analyst estimates, Intellia's annual revenues could reach nearly $4 billion by 2030. Ultimately, they will thus be larger than its current total market capitalization. The company plans to expand its own production line in the coming years.

Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA.US) share price chart, W1 interval. The last four weeks brought a slowdown in the dynamics of changes of the company's stock value. At the moment, the support structure is being tested, which is defined by the lows of December 2020 and February and March 2021. The area of the 78.6% retracement of the upward wave following the bottom of the Covid crash and the 200-period exponential moving average (golden line) may serve as local resistance levels. The fundamental support is now the bottom of May 12, 2022 (around $40 per share). Source: xStation 5

Eryk Szmyd and Mateusz Czyżkowski 

XTB Poland