Barclays: Editas Medicine On Track To File New Drug App Next Year

Editas Medicine Inc (NASDAQ: EDIT) reported third-quarter earnings Tuesday and it failed to meet Wall Street expectations.

The Analyst

Barclays' Gena Wang.

The Rating

Wang maintained an Overweight on Editas Medicine, with a price target of $28. (See Wang's track record here.)

The Thesis

The Q3 updates are largely incremental, Wang said, adding that she anticipates new candidates for investigational new drug applications, or INDs. 

EDIT-101 remains on track for an IND filing in mid-2018, and CRISPR-mediated ex vivo gene editing in hemoglobinopathies is becoming a potential candidate for Editas Medicine's next IND, Wang said. Editas Medicine believes that the blood and bone marrow disorders, along with ocular diseases, are the most likely candidates for the next IND, according to Barclays.

Crispr Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ: CRSP) and Sangamo Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: SGMO) recently announced IND clearance of their sickle cell disease program, while bluebird bio Inc's (NASDAQ: BLUE) LentiGlobin showed promising results in beta thalassemia and in SCD.

The Price Action

Editas Medicine fell 12.05 percent in the morning session Wednesday, but it rebounded and it is currently trading around 4.5 percent lower. This is the third consecutive trading session in negative territory for the drugmaker. 

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