Could CRISPR Therapeutics Become the Next Vertex Pharmaceuticals?

Biotech companies CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CRSP) and Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) are often mentioned in the same sentence. That's because they have been partnering to develop a groundbreaking gene-editing therapy for a long time, and their efforts are about to pay off.

However, there are important differences between these two drugmakers. Vertex is a much larger company with proven innovative abilities, and it has generated strong and consistent revenue, earnings, and stock-market performance in the past decade. CRISPR is a much younger company with a much shorter track record, but could it one day become as successful as its larger partner?

Let's briefly consider how Vertex Pharmaceuticals achieved its success. The biotech company develops and markets therapies that treat the underlying causes of a rare disease called cystic fibrosis (CF), which affects patients' internal organs, especially the lungs. Vertex is the only company in this small niche, which grants it pricing power with patients and third-party payers. So even though there are only 88,000 patients in the areas it targets, Vertex has made a fortune.

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Source Fool.com