What happened
Shares of Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA -1.37%) were up 12% at 3:45 p.m. EDT today after the company reported earnings and updated investors on its clinical trials.
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So what
Wall Street was already jazzed over the success of NTLA-2001. That treatment became the first using clustered regularly interspersed short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) gene-editing technology to be successfully deployed directly in humans. Management's update added two more therapies to the list of first-in-human trials it plans this year. Those are its NTLA-2002 for hereditary angioedema, a disease that causes severe swelling, and NTLA-5001 for acute myeloid leukemia.
Now what
After raising funding on the back of the success of NTLA-2001, it makes sense that management would swiftly move other candidates into trials. While the excitement is understandable, investors shouldn't be too surprised. CEO John Leonard shared his intent during the company's first-quarter earnings call with analysts.
Wall Street may also be encouraged by the updated plans in the NTLA-2001 program. Management believes it will have data by the end of the year in addition to beginning a second part of the trial. Once a single recommended dose is identified, part two of its phase 1 study -- using only that dose -- will begin. It would be impressive to clear all of those milestones inside of a year. It also demonstrates that the company is putting the $600 million it raised in June to work in the right way.
