I am referring to your email on genetic editing. What are the related companies that are worth looking into?

Eoin Treacy's view

Thank you for this question which may be of interest to other subscribers. The discovery of CRISPR-Caa9 genetic editing technology has resulted in the both the pace of innovation accelerating and the cost declining meaningfully. Research into genetic engineering has been ongoing for decades but as understanding has improved and new tools have been invented the breadth of the sector has growth considerably. 

Just who owns the intellectual property rights to CRISPR-Cas9 remains a matter of discussion for the courts. Editas Medicine, Intellia Therapeutics and CRISPR Therapeutics are the three protagonists in the case. One of these companies will be able to gather royalties on uses of the technology but it is not yet clear exactly which will be the ultimate victor.

Right now, the sector closest to commercial reality that heavily relies on genetic editing is immune-oncology. The number and types of tumours is mindboggling which means broad spectrum treatments are often not the best course of action. Oncology is therefore where personalised medicine is first coming to fruition. 

Synthetic biologists are writing custom viruses to attack tumours while geneticists are re-educating T-cells to help them identify tumours. I last reviewed immune-oncology shares in Comment of the Day on June 14th.