Reporter’s Notebook: The Overdue Breakout for Gene Therapy and Gene Editing

PHOENIX – At last year’s Cell and Gene Meeting on the Mesa in Phoenix, people were sweating, and it wasn’t just because of the 100°F heat in October. Following Vertex’s Casgevy for sickle cell’s approval as the first CRISPR-based medicine in December 2023, the field had been quiet. There was desperation to move from cell and gene therapy concepts to the new clinical standard of treatment.

Investors were taking notice. The stock market trends for many cell and gene therapy companies have been going downhill since late 2023. For example, the week following the Casgevy approval, gene editing companies Intellia and Editas had stock prices of $30.78 and $10.93, respectively. By summer 2025, Intellia would drop to $5.90, and Editas would reach a low of $0.91—or less than 10% of its value in a