M&A activity – CRISPR fuelling investor interest in gene editing

A Feature analyzing M&A, licensing and partnerships in gene editing as CRISPR therapeutics enter the market and present new opportunities for pharma growth.

Late last year, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: VRTX) and CRISPR Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CRSP) gained approval for the first clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-based drug, Casgevy (exagamglogene autotemcel), for the treatment of sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia. In 2023, 14 review designations were awarded to CRISPR-based therapies by the Food and Drug Administration and many gene-editing drugs are forecast to enter the market over the next few years.

According to GlobalData, years there has been an increase in licensing agreements for drugs incorporating CRISPR-based technology over the past five years (Figure 1). From 2020 to 2022, there was a surge in deals, particularly in hematological disorders, resulting in a total deal value of $1.8 billion. Innovator drugs harnessing CRISPR technologies witnessed an 182% growth in total licensing agreement deal value from $5.6 billion in 2020 to $15.8 billion in 2022. The top three therapy areas included oncology ($11.9 billion), immunology ($6.7 billion), and the central nervous system ($2.2 billion).