BioCentury
ARTICLE | Tools & Techniques

CRISPR feels the heat

CRISPR companies hit back against safety concerns publication

June 1, 2017 11:04 PM UTC
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Two days after CRISPR stocks took a hit on preclinical data showing the technology causes hundreds more unintended mutations than previously thought, companies are hitting back, questioning the study’s validity and the journal’s decision to publish. And beyond the protestations, the drug developers say there’s no call to alter their internal strategies for testing safety.

On Tuesday, shares of Editas Medicine Inc., Intellia Therapeutics Inc. and CRISPR Therapeutics AG sank after Nature Methods published a Correspondence describing off-target activity of CRISPR-Cas9 in mice with retinitis pigmentosa. At close of business today, the combined drop in market cap was $135.8M, and stocks remained down by 10.7%, 8.1% and 4.7%, after dipping on Tuesday to 12%, 14.2% and 5.3%, respectively (see “CRISPR Crash”)...