Why CRISPR Therapeutics, Editas Medicine, and Beam Therapeutics Dropped This Week

Companies associated with gene-editing are near the end of their second poor week in a row on Wall Street. For the week, shares of CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CRSP) were down by 12% as of Thursday's market close. Editas Medicine (NASDAQ: EDIT) was off by about 14% over those four days, and Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ: BEAM) had lost 15%.

Those downward moves came on the heels of a huge June run-up after Intellia Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NTLA) -- another gene-editing company -- announced that its approach had successfully reversed a genetic disease in human patients. In a clinical trial first, researchers injected a CRISPR treatment into patients that effectively inactivated the body's production of a mutated (and eventually toxic) form of a protein by altering the patients' DNA. Intellia and its partner Regeneron will now navigate the standard regulatory review process. Intellia CEO John Leonard has said he hopes the therapy becomes available to patients "very, very soon." However, marketability could still be years away. Meanwhile, Wall Street's recent surge of excitement about CRISPR therapies has worn off.