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Science/Tech See other Science/Tech Articles Title: Biotech stocks - Brown Newsletter StockGumShoe...on recommended biotech stocks... Here’s how he describes the “god key:” “They don’t just catalog the viruses… “They create the ‘perfect soldier’ to seek out and destroy them. “In short, whereas most genes create ordinary proteins… “These ‘viral fingerprints’ create RNA… and special proteins instead… “In lay terms, it’s like they form a ‘genetic warrior’ that can identify foreign invaders… remove their DNA… and render them harmless.” The big “coming soon” rationale here seems to be that we’ll be seeing news soon from the first Chinese trials of this “God Key” in lung cancer… “On October 28 of last year, Chinese scientists in Chengdu used the “God Key” on lung cancer cells… “And introduced those cells back into lung cancer patients. “The whole world is watching this trial. “It now looks like preliminary results will be available early 2018. So yes, this is another CRISPR-Cas9 pitch, with the “God Key” being that ability to edit genes using this technology — we’ve seen plenty of those ads over the past year. And we hear about other big investors who are already on board, which makes it seem ever more appealing… “… billionaire Bill Gates has taken a personal interest in the ‘God Key.’ “He believes he can use it to cure malaria worldwide. Through the Gates foundation, he has invested $75 million in this technology. “And through a fund run by his old science adviser, Gates has invested an additional $120 million in a small company “According to Wired magazine, this company – and another that I’ll tell you about – have a stranglehold on ‘God Key’ patents. “They’ve inked a deal with a strategic partner that could be worth nearly their entire value in the stock market today, if they hits certain milestones. OK, so yes, this is Editas (EDIT), the first stock that comes to mind for most people when it comes to CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing. Editas has licensed the work of Feng Zhang at Harvard and others (including researchers from Mass General and Duke, as teased), and raised (and is spending) tons of money to try to make rapid progress in developing drugs built on those foundational patents. To oversimplify, CRISPR-Cas9 is a tool and technique for editing DNA — there are other CRISPR technologies as well, but Cas9 is the most advanced one right now, and it gives unprecedented ability to make precise changes to DNA, both in removing damaged or unwanted genes and in replacing them. The goal, as with most other gene therapies, is to have a “one shot cure” for lots of genetic diseases and abnormalities — cut out the bad genes, add good ones, and the problem is gone forevermore. It’s not often that simple, of course, and that’s part of the reason why many gene editing companies and researchers are aiming first at those relatively simple diseases that they can clearly identify as being caused by one specific little genetic tweak. Part of the appeal of eye diseases is that the treatments are local — the retina is small and contained, and they can apply their genetic editing treatment to a very targeted area with a direct injection. So might we guess that Brown is, in fact, teasing the three big “pure play” stocks in CRISPR/Cas9 R&D? The other two would be Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA), also founded by Dr. Doudna but with a current license on her University of California patents, and CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP), founded by Dr. Charpentier and licensing her patents. All three have lots of luminaries in the field on their scientific boards, all are presumably doing important and cutting-edge work, and all have lots of cash to spend and access to at least a chunk of the critical patent portfolios that everyone currently thinks will be valuable in the future. “‘God Key’ Stock #2 “This company recently received 2 patents on its proprietary technology for use in humans. In short, they’re engineering special white blood cell cancer therapies… “They are set to begin testing in humans this year for two related diseases. “They must be doing something right. San Raffaele University and Novartis liked this company’s work so much they signed two separate multiyear licensing agreements with them. “This tiny ‘God Key’ company also has major backers like Fidelity and Janus Capital ready to hand over nearly $700 million in cash as long as they hit their milestones. “To put that in perspective… That’s roughly the size of the entire company.” This one must be Intellia (NTLA), which does have Novartis (NVS) as its big backer (they’re collaborating with them on combining CAR-T and CRISPR in some fancy way to fight cancer)… though I don’t think they’re “set to begin testing in humans this year.” They’ve also partnered with Regeneron and Caribou, in addition to Ospedale San Raffaele, and they do have a market cap of about $700 million. “‘God Key’ Stock #3 “This company has some great partnerships lined up… but it’s taking a slightly different, though potentially very lucrative, approach to the ‘God Key.’ “One of its backers is pharma giant Bayer AG. “What’s interesting about this collaboration is that a large portion of the focus will be on the agriculture sector. So yes, it’s early… and yes, if you ask pretty much any investing pundit out there about CRISPR they’ll point you toward EDIT, CRSP and NTLA… and maybe Caribou, if it ends up going public. Will Jeff Brown tell you something far wiser about those three companies, or explain the science better than I can? I hope so, for $2,500 (that’s the two-year price for his Exponential Tech Investor), but beyond that, well, you’re on your own. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
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