ZUG, Switzerland, April 25, 2026, 18:07 CEST
CRISPR Therapeutics AG (Nasdaq) dropped 11.6% on Friday, finishing at $48.79—well below its $55.01 open—as investors bailed on the gene-editing drug developer. No new statements appeared on the investor site; the most recent update remains an April 7 conference listing.
The decline is notable: CRISPR’s no longer just a story about future potential. With Casgevy on the market through its partnership with Vertex Pharmaceuticals, investors are weighing if the company can convert early uptake of the first approved CRISPR therapy into ongoing sales, all while it pours money into an ambitious, costly clinical pipeline.
The spotlight lands ahead of a key governance decision. In a proxy filing, CRISPR laid out plans for its June 4 annual general meeting in Zurich, where shareholders will weigh proposals including raising the company’s capital band — the Swiss-law mechanism letting the board alter share capital — and carrying forward a net loss totaling CHF 1.89 billion.
Casgevy—officially known as exagamglogene autotemcel—is an ex vivo CRISPR/Cas9 therapy. Blood-forming cells are taken from the patient, edited using CRISPR/Cas9 outside the body, then infused back in. The drug is cleared for use in patients 12 and up who have severe sickle cell disease or transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia, both inherited blood disorders.
Casgevy brought in $54 million for the fourth quarter of 2025, with full-year revenue hitting $116 million, the company reported. Over the course of 2025, 64 patients got infusions, while 147 began treatment with an initial cell collection. The number of patient starts and collections nearly tripled compared to 2024, according to CRISPR.
Back in February, Chief Executive Samarth Kulkarni pointed to what he described as “steady progress” across CRISPR’s maturing pipeline. He highlighted Casgevy uptake, zugo-cel in both autoimmune and cancer indications, as well as in vivo liver-editing projects—the latter referring to gene editing that happens directly in the patient, not outside the body. CRISPR Therapeutics
Plenty on the docket for the coming months. CRISPR has a batch of updates lined up before year-end from CTX310, its Lp(a) program, plus CTX611, zugo-cel, CTX340, and CTX460. Of note, CTX611 is an siRNA effort—small interfering RNA designed to knock down a specific protein. Most of these updates land in the back half, so there’s not much slack for less-than-solid results.
Plenty of cash at year-end—$1.98 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities—buys CRISPR some breathing room, but losses are widening. The company posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $130.6 million, up sharply from $37.3 million a year ago. R&D spending didn’t stand still, either, climbing to $83.5 million for the quarter.
CRISPR shored up its balance sheet in March, pricing an upsized $550 million convertible senior notes deal set to mature in 2031. Net proceeds are estimated at $536.3 million. The notes start out with a conversion price near $76.56 per share. CRISPR plans to use the funds for general corporate purposes, the company said.
No clear consensus among the analysts here. Out of 19 tracked by MarketBeat, recommendations on CRISPR split: 11 say buy or strong buy, six are in the hold camp, and two call it a sell. The average price target lands at $64.53. Over at Piper Sandler, the target price just moved up to $110 from $105 after the latest cash raise, with a Casgevy revenue forecast of $300 million on 150 patients in 2026, reports Investing.com.
Vertex isn’t taking a back seat here. The revised Casgevy agreement puts Vertex in charge of global development, manufacturing, and commercialization, with CRISPR getting a 40% slice of profits and costs, while Vertex takes 60%. Rollout timing now hinges not just on CRISPR’s science, but on how Vertex executes.
Peer pressure is mounting. Intellia Therapeutics announced April 24 that it plans to release top-line results from its HAELO trial of lonvoguran ziclumeran on April 27, touting it as the first-ever Phase 3 data for an in vivo CRISPR gene-editing candidate. The findings stand to sway investor sentiment across the in-body editing space, with implications for CRISPR’s own lipid nanoparticle liver efforts.
The risks stand out. If Casgevy’s rollout drags, pediatric filings slip, or the 2026 trial data disappoints, CRISPR could end up sitting on cash and losses, with no second product ready for market anytime soon. The company flags the uncertainty, reminding investors that investigational therapies might never finish development or secure regulatory clearance.
Friday’s selloff isn’t the end of the story—it sharpens it. CRISPR faces the test: Can Casgevy turn landmark approval into real, lasting sales? Next, investors are watching whether the company’s upcoming programs make it through data and regulators intact.
