The hunt for winning biotech stocks never truly ends, and it is straightforward to see why. Throughout the last five years, shares of the gene-editing company CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CRSP) are up by 146%, easily topping the market’s return of 94%. The company recently succeeded in its bid to commercialize a gene therapy for a pair of rare hereditary blood diseases.
As smart investors know, the heyday of gene editing has barely begun, so there’s liable to be riches in store for people who can pick tomorrow’s star performers. But the next great gene-editing stock won’t be within the similar vein as CRISPR Therapeutics, so what’s the right contender to buy and hold instantly?
My money’s on Caribou Biosciences (NASDAQ: CRBU), and here’s why.
This one will not be for the faint of heart, nevertheless the early signs are very positive
Caribou goals to treat relapsed or refractory (R/R) blood cancers like B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (R/R B-NHL) and multiple myeloma (R/R MM) using its cell therapies. But its therapies aren’t hindered by the pitfalls of yesteryear encountered by CRISPR Therapeutics and other competitors like Bluebird Bio.
In its place of using an obscenely complicated and weeks-long process that requires patients to donate their very own cells as raw materials, definitely one in all the huge innovations of the biotech’s platform is that its cell therapies could also be manufactured centrally, with none need for stem cell donations from patients. It’ll save significantly on costs, and certain also create simpler medicines.
Caribou’s lead candidate, CB-010 for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, has a trio of gene edits that will give it a major edge over competing products with fewer features, by making it safer and simpler. Per an update from the phase 1 clinical trial in July of 2023, 15 of 16 patients enrolled responded to treatment — a remarkably good result. Most of the patients had an aggressive kind of the disease, but six months after treatment, 69% of patients were still responding to treatment. In other words, preliminary data indicates that Caribou’s candidate is perhaps a game changer for patients who’re desperately in need.
Regulators on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have already granted the company’s request for the fast track, orphan drug, and regenerative medicine advanced therapy (RMAT) designations for CB-010. Which means they see this technique as a potentially helpful addition to the compendium of oncology medicines, which is a positive early sign.
Furthermore, as of the third quarter, Caribou had $397 million in money, equivalents, and short-term investments. Management assumes that’ll be enough to last through Q4 of 2025, at which point it’ll must get your hands on a research and development (R&D) collaboration partner, raise more funds, or each. If it could show more data of the similar quality as its latest CB-010 release, it won’t have any trouble surviving past that date.
Alternatively, it could potentially go to zero if it could’t produce convincing data, in order that is undoubtedly a highly dangerous stock.
Can it actually perform along with CRISPR Therapeutics?
On paper, Caribou Biosciences could potentially perform even higher than CRISPR Therapeutics.
Whereas CRISPR Therapeutics targeted two rare diseases with relatively small markets — beta thalassemia and sickle cell disease — Caribou desires to fish in a fair greater pond. The marketplace for therapies that treat non-Hodgkin lymphoma was value greater than $9 billion in 2022, per Grand View Research, and demand is anticipated to rise at a rate of 8% annually between now and 2030. Furthermore, CRISPR Therapeutics’ treatment may be curative for every illnesses, so its addressable market could shrink over time, however the similar issue doesn’t apply for the smaller company’s candidate.
The catch is that Caribou continues to be early in its journey toward commercializing its first medicine, and it won’t ever get there. As favorable as its phase 1 results are, late-stage clinical trial failures are the norm in biopharma, especially throughout the context of oncology, where failure rates are even higher than for other disease areas. Per some estimates, the probability of a cancer therapy surviving all the way in which by which from phase 1 trials to approval is throughout the ballpark of three.4%.
So though this biotech is my single most promising gene-editing investment, the likelihood is against it, and there hasn’t been much in the way in which by which of de-risking as of yet. This will not be a probability you’d want to bet the farm on in hopes of creating generational wealth, since it’s just too dangerous.
Nonetheless, in relation to biotech success stories, Caribou’s auspicious start is an amazing omen. And never lower than for now, it looks prefer it has what it takes to be the next CRISPR Therapeutics.
Must you invest $1,000 in Caribou Biosciences instantly?
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Alex Carchidi has positions in Caribou Biosciences. The Motley Idiot has positions in and recommends CRISPR Therapeutics and Caribou Biosciences. The Motley Idiot recommends Bluebird Bio. The Motley Idiot has a disclosure policy.
Missed Out on CRISPR Therapeutics? My Best Gene-Editing Stock to Buy and Hold was originally published by The Motley Idiot