Prime Medicine shares could pop the company works toward a gene therapy that could address nine out of every 10 genetic mutations, Jefferies said Monday. Analyst Eun K. Yang initiated the biotechnology stock as a buy with a price target of $25, which implies as upside of 21% over where it closed Friday. The company went public Oct. 20 through an initial public offering. “Though the field of genetic medicine has made significant advances … current technologies do not provide the versatility to precisely and efficiently correct the diverse range of mutations or DNA alterations implicated in diseases,” Yang said in a note to clients. “PRME believes that key advantages of Prime Editing technology lie in its versatility, precision, effectiveness and breadth.” Yang said Prime Medicine has a unique focus on search-and-replace genome editing, which can theoretically use one-time therapies to address 90% of the approximately 75,000 known genetic mutations. That’s an improvement from base editing, which can only address 30%. Search-and-replace can do more gene conversions without off-target editing or breaking double-strands of DNA, which allows it to have broader impact, Yang said. It also makes edits in the natural gene location, which then corrects DNA in what is called a “once-and-done” treatment, as opposed to other therapies that tried to insert entirely new genes. To be sure, she said the company has a long road ahead. Animal proof data should start coming in 2023 or later, followed by the first human testing likely in 2024 or 2025. The stock could be hurt if animal testing or clinicals yield negative results, or if more competition crops up. Prime currently has nearly 20 early-stage programs in the works. Many of which target mutations that have understood underlying causes like Wilson’s disease, while some are understood less by scientists at the moment, including ALS. Yang estimated Prime could start getting Food and Drug Administration approval around 2030. Yang said the “broad pipeline” allows for diversity in potential commercial markets and could also give way to strong potential licensing or collaboration opportunities. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
© heardonwallstreet.com