Dec. 16, 2025 — uniQure N.V. (NASDAQ: QURE) is back in the spotlight Tuesday after a notable extended-hours rebound. The gene therapy developer’s shares were highlighted among top pre-market gainers, rising about 15% to roughly $23.50 in early trading, following a strong after-hours move the prior session. [1]
The snapback comes at a time when the fundamental narrative around uniQure remains dominated by one big question: how (and when) the U.S. FDA will allow AMT-130—uniQure’s Huntington’s disease gene therapy—to move toward a Biologics License Application (BLA) after the agency signaled the current evidence package is not sufficient as “primary” support for approval. [2]
Below is what’s driving the stock conversation on Dec. 16, 2025, what analysts are forecasting now, and what catalysts matter most into early 2026.
QURE stock today: why traders are paying attention
In the regular session preceding Tuesday’s pre-market action, QURE was around $20.43 (latest available pricing in the data feed during the early hours of Dec. 16).
What made the ticker pop on screens wasn’t a single blockbuster headline on Dec. 16—it was the magnitude of the move:
- After-hours: up about 10% to around $22.53 (per extended-hours tracking) [3]
- Pre-market (Dec. 16): up about 15% to around $23.50 [4]
This kind of price action has become familiar for QURE investors over the past several months: big upside days, big downside days, and rapid repricing as the market tries to handicap a complicated regulatory path for a potentially first-in-class Huntington’s disease therapy.
The core fundamental driver: FDA uncertainty around AMT-130
What uniQure said on Dec. 4 — and why it still matters on Dec. 16
On Dec. 4, 2025, uniQure disclosed it had received final FDA meeting minutes from an Oct. 29 pre-BLA meeting regarding AMT-130 for Huntington’s disease.
The key takeaway: the FDA conveyed that Phase I/II data submitted for AMT-130 are “currently unlikely” to provide the primary evidence needed to support a BLA submission. uniQure said it was evaluating the feedback and planned to urgently request a follow-up meeting in Q1 2026. [5]
This wasn’t the first warning shot. It followed a major Nov. 3, 2025 development when uniQure said it believed the FDA no longer agreed that the current Phase I/II data compared against external controls would be adequate as the primary basis for a BLA—an update that triggered a steep selloff. [6]
What the market is trying to price
At a high level, investors are weighing two competing truths:
- AMT-130 has shown strong clinical signals (more below), and Huntington’s has no disease-modifying therapies, so the upside for a credible path forward is enormous.
- The FDA is pushing back on whether uniQure’s current dataset—especially comparisons to an external control—can serve as the “primary” evidence for approval, raising the risk of delays, new studies, or additional endpoints/analyses.
BioPharma Dive’s coverage of the December meeting-minutes update underscored the market reaction at the time: shares dropped sharply at the open, then partially recovered intraday—another example of the stock’s high volatility around regulatory nuance. [7]
The AMT-130 story: promising clinical data, complicated regulatory math
uniQure positions AMT-130 as a one-time, brain-delivered gene therapy designed to silence the huntingtin gene using an AAV5 vector carrying an artificial micro-RNA. [8]
The company has also highlighted that AMT-130 has received multiple regulatory designations, including Breakthrough Therapy designation (April 2025) and RMAT designation (June 2024), reflecting both unmet need and the FDA’s willingness to engage closely—though those designations do not guarantee approval. [9]
The September 2025 “breakthrough” moment
In late September, uniQure reported positive topline data from a pivotal Phase I/II program update. In the company’s description, high-dose AMT-130 demonstrated statistically significant slowing in disease progression measured by cUHDRS versus a propensity score–matched external control. [10]
That data helped fuel a dramatic rally at the time, with market coverage pointing to a near “tripling” move as investors began to model a potential path to the first disease-modifying Huntington’s treatment. [11]
Then came the FDA reversal risk
The later FDA feedback—first flagged in early November and reaffirmed procedurally in the Dec. 4 minutes—effectively told the market: “The clinical signal may be exciting, but the approval standard is not satisfied yet.”
This is the tension now embedded in QURE’s price: the stock can rally hard on any hint of regulatory clarity, but it can also drop fast on any sign the FDA requires more (or different) evidence.
Analyst forecasts and price targets: cuts are common, but coverage remains active
After the FDA communications, multiple Wall Street firms adjusted models and price targets—often reducing targets while keeping ratings that imply upside, reflecting a “higher risk, still-high reward” framing.
Recent notable target changes (late 2025)
- Mizuho: price target lowered to $33 from $60, rating kept at Outperform (citing a reduced probability of success and a pushed-out expected launch year for AMT-130). [12]
- Stifel: price target lowered to $40 from $50, rating kept at Buy (in a broader sector diligence refresh). [13]
- RBC Capital: price target lowered to $45 from $65, rating maintained at Outperform after the regulatory setback. [14]
- Goldman Sachs: price target lowered to $38 from $56, rating kept at Neutral, explicitly noting concerns tied to trial design and reliance on external controls in the FDA’s view. [15]
It’s important to read these revisions less as “analysts suddenly hate the science” and more as “analysts are repricing the timeline and probability tree.” When the FDA introduces uncertainty about what constitutes primary evidence for approval, valuation models (which are basically probability-weighted calendars) tend to get harsher quickly.
Why QURE can spike anyway: positioning, short interest, and “path clarity” optionality
When a biotech stock becomes heavily headline-driven, price can move on flows as much as fundamentals—especially when many investors are leaning the same way.
One data point that helps explain QURE’s tendency to whip around: short interest. As of Nov. 28, 2025, uniQure had about 8.34 million shares sold short, around 14% of the public float, with roughly 4.4 days to cover based on average volume. [16]
That doesn’t “guarantee a short squeeze.” But it does mean that when the stock turns upward—particularly in thin pre-market liquidity—short-covering can amplify moves, and momentum traders often pile in once the ticker hits pre-market “top movers” lists.
In plain terms: QURE currently trades like a stock with two prices:
- a “base” price reflecting regulatory uncertainty, and
- a “call option” price reflecting what could happen if the FDA meeting in Q1 2026 produces a workable path forward.
Balance sheet and runway: uniQure has time to fight for the path forward
One reason some investors remain engaged (despite regulatory turbulence) is that uniQure is not obviously cornered financially.
In its Nov. 10, 2025 release (filed with the SEC), the company reported:
- $694.2 million in cash, cash equivalents, and investment securities as of Sept. 30, 2025, and
- an expectation that this would be sufficient to fund operations into 2029. [17]
That runway matters because FDA feedback that implies “bring more evidence” can translate into additional trials, additional follow-up, or more extensive biomarker/clinical analyses—all of which take time and money.
Beyond Huntington’s: pipeline optionality (but AMT-130 remains the main event for QURE stock)
While AMT-130 is the value driver dominating headlines, uniQure lists additional programs across other indications, including Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE), Fabry Disease, ALS (SOD1), and Hemophilia B. [18]
For investors, these assets can provide “pipeline optionality,” but the market’s near-term focus remains squarely on whether AMT-130 can move forward on an approvable regulatory strategy without a multi-year detour.
What investors are watching next (late 2025 into early 2026)
Here are the catalysts that matter most for uniQure stock as of Dec. 16, 2025, based on what the company and market coverage have already signaled:
1) The planned FDA follow-up meeting in Q1 2026
This is the next major inflection point. uniQure has said it intends to request a follow-up meeting in the first quarter of 2026 after receiving the FDA minutes. [19]
The single most important output investors will look for: clarity on what the FDA will accept as primary evidence (and whether an accelerated pathway remains realistic).
2) Any new framing of the AMT-130 evidence package
The regulatory disagreement appears centered on whether the existing Phase I/II dataset—compared against external controls—can carry approval weight. Any incremental clinical follow-up, updated analyses, or supportive biomarker work could change the tone, but until the FDA signals acceptance, markets may treat updates as “interesting but not decisive.”
3) Continued volatility in the stock itself
The recent extended-hours surge shows that QURE can still move sharply even without a same-day blockbuster press release. With elevated short interest and a narrative that swings between “historic therapy potential” and “regulatory reset,” investors should expect price action to remain headline- and positioning-sensitive. [20]
Bottom line on uniQure stock on Dec. 16, 2025
uniQure (QURE) is trading in a classic biotech “high delta” zone: the underlying science story has created legitimate enthusiasm, but the FDA’s stance on what counts as primary evidence for approval has injected real uncertainty into the timeline.
That’s why the stock can jump 15% pre-market one day and still be fundamentally tethered to the same question: Will the FDA accept a path to approval for AMT-130 based on the evidence uniQure can realistically generate next? [21]
Until that question becomes less ambiguous—most likely via FDA engagement in Q1 2026—QURE is likely to remain a volatility-heavy stock where analyst targets move, positioning matters, and each regulatory sentence gets priced like an earnings report.
References
1. stockanalysis.com, 2. www.globenewswire.com, 3. www.marketbeat.com, 4. stockanalysis.com, 5. www.globenewswire.com, 6. www.reuters.com, 7. www.biopharmadive.com, 8. www.uniqure.com, 9. www.uniqure.com, 10. www.sec.gov, 11. www.marketwatch.com, 12. www.tipranks.com, 13. www.tipranks.com, 14. www.investing.com, 15. www.tipranks.com, 16. www.marketbeat.com, 17. www.sec.gov, 18. www.uniqure.com, 19. www.globenewswire.com, 20. www.marketbeat.com, 21. stockanalysis.com
