CRISPR Therapeutics AG


CRSP

reported fourth-quarter 2020 loss per share of $1.50, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $1.23. However, the company had reported earnings of 51 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

Collaboration revenues comprising the company’s total revenues came in at $0.2 million in the fourth quarter. In the year-ago quarter, it had recorded revenues of $77 million in connection with the sale of certain licenses under the collaboration with

Vertex Pharmaceuticals


VRTX

. The top line also substantially missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5 million.

Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics have risen 1.5% so far this year compared with the

industry’s

rally of 12.2%.

Quarter in Detail

In the reported quarter, research and development expenses were $82.4 million, up 68.8% from the year-ago figure due to increased headcount and development costs for pipeline development.

General and administrative expenses also surged 49.1% year over year to $25.8 million due to higher headcount related costs.

As of Dec 31, 2020, the company had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $1.7 billion compared with $1.4 billion as at Sep 30, 2020.

Full-Year Results

For 2020, CRISPR Therapeutics generated revenues of $0.5 million, reflecting a significant decline year over year.

For the same period, the company reported loss of $5.29 per share against the year-ago earnings of $1.17 per share.

Pipeline Updates

CRISPR Therapeutics is developing its lead pipeline candidate, CTX001, an investigational ex-vivo CRISPR gene-edited therapy for treating sickle cell disease (“SCD”) and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia (“TDT”), in partnership with Vertex.

Enrollment and dosing are currently ongoing for both studies on CTX001. The company plans to complete enrollment in both studies this year.  In December 2020, the companies

announced

promising additional data on CTX001, which demonstrated a consistent and sustained response in treating patients with SCD and TDT.

CRISPR Therapeutics is also developing three gene-edited allogeneic cell therapy programs, chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) candidates, CTX110, CTX120 and CTX130, for the treatment of hematological and solid-tumor cancers.

In October 2020, the company

announced

top-line data from an early-stage study which is evaluating several dose levels of CTX110 for treating relapse/refractory CD19+ B-cell malignancies. The company expects additional data readouts for CTX110 in the ongoing year.

Meanwhile, an ongoing phase I study is evaluating the safety and efficacy of several dose levels of CTX120 for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Also, two independent ongoing phase I studies are evaluating the safety and efficacy of several dose levels of CTX130 for treating solid tumors and certain hematologic malignancies. Top-line data from all the studies is expected later in 2021.

CRISPR Therapeutics, along with partner ViaCyte, plans to initiate a phase I/II study on their allogeneic stem cell-derived therapy for the treatment of Type 1 diabetes later in 2021.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

CRISPR Therapeutics currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

Better-ranked stocks in the biotech sector include

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc.


ACOR

and

Vericel Corporation


VCEL

, both carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see


the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here


.

Acorda’s loss per share estimates have narrowed 23.6% for 2021 over the past 60 days. The stock has skyrocketed 80% year to date.

Vericel’s earnings estimates have been revised 11.7% upward for 2021 over the past 60 days. The stock has rallied 65.7% year to date.

Legal Marijuana: An Investor’s Dream

Imagine getting in early on a young industry primed to skyrocket from $17.7 billion in 2019 to an expected $73.6 billion by 2027.

Although marijuana stocks did better as the pandemic took hold than the market as a whole, they’ve been pushed down. This is exactly the right time to get in on selected strong companies at a fraction of their value before COVID struck. Zacks’ Special Report, Marijuana Moneymakers, reveals 10 exciting tickers for urgent consideration.

Download Marijuana Moneymakers FREE >>

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.

Click to get this free report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research