June 17, 2025 4:55pm

As gene therapy jumps with M&A; seems to be the name-of-the-game, driving share value and re-establishing future optimism

News: Verve Therapeutics (VERV) agreed to be acquired by Eli Lilly (LLY) or $10.50 per share, a premium of 67.5% on its Monday’s last close. The deal, which is worth up to $1.3 billion, is expected to close in Q3/25.

Pops goes the weasel, after the music slows: Verve Therapeutics (VERV +$5.11 or +81.50% to $11.38), Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA +$0.62 or +6.92% to $9.68), Editas Medicine (EDIT -$0.02 or -0.93 to $2.14), CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP +$1.61 or +3.87% to $43.19) and Beam Therapeutics (BEAM +$0.05 or +0.30% to $16.67) also advanced on the news.

  • Who didn’t react as much: Editas Medicine (EDIT +$0.02) faces a long road ahead before delivering its 1stFDA approved therapy and reaching its goal of transforming into a commercially sustainable biotech. EDIT, with a market capitalization of $178.7 million, has also been extremely volatile, down 62% over the past year despite a sharp 32% rebound in the past month as of this writing. <Motley Fool and me>

The list evolves: Blueprint Medicine (BPMC) by Bristol Meyers (BMY), Sage Therapeutics by Supernus Pharmaceuticals (SUPN), CureVac (CVAC) by BioNTech (BNTX) and now Verve Therapeutics (VERV) by Eli Lilly (LLY)

Never leave an investor uninformed! 

 

On point, short on words, long on facts and being judicious!

My mission is to provide clear, actionable guidance on a regular basis to help investors and traders navigate the uncertain and often irrational financial markets.

I put hours of effort to create reporting, while leveraging my 40 years of operating. investigative and research experiences to analyze the key market-moving events and distill that into a cogent outlook.

 

Monday night’s RegMed Investors (RMi) Closing Bell: My view/words ring true … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/13962

RegMed Investors (RMi) Research Note: Harvard Apparatus GT (OTCQB: HRGN): PONZI Scheme at its best or was convicted Bernie Madoff also resurrected … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/13812

News: RegMedInvestors (RMi) Research Note: Verve Therapeutics (VERV) to be acquired by Eli Lilly (LLY) … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/13963

 

Tuesday: The Dow closed DOWN -299.29 points or -0.70%, the S&P closed DOWN -50.39 points or -0.84% while the Nasdaq closed DOWN -180.12 points or -0.91%

  • Indexes dived after the Israel-Iran conflict continued to its 5th day.

Henry’omics: We need to more than consider the economic environment - rising rates and inflation to comprehend the micro re “our” universe of cell and gene therapy companies

  • Retail sales data weighed on markets Tuesday, as consumer spending retreated more than expected in May. Sales dipped -0.9% on the month, worse than the forecast for a -0.6% fall.

Tuesday’s advance/decline line opened with a negative 12 incliner, 21 decliners and 2 flats ending with a negative close of 10 incliners, 23 decliners and 2 flats      

Metrics:  Tuesday, the IBB was down -2.53%, the XBI was down -1.27% while the VIX was up +2.49 points or +13.03% at 21.60

 

Q2/25 – June – 1 neutral, 4 negative and 8 positive closes

  • May – 1 market holiday, 10 negative and 11 positive closes
  • April – 11 positive and 10 negative closes

 

Tuesday Closing UP (10 of 10) 

  • Verve Therapeutics (VERV +$5.11),
  • CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP +$1.61 after Monday’s +$0.22),
  • Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS +$0.91 after Monday’s -$0.35),
  • Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA +$0.62 after Monday’s +$0.65),
  • Lenz Therapeutics (LENZ +$0.14 after Monday’s -$0.18),
  • Prime Medicine (PRME +$0.115)
  • Harvard Apparatus RT (OTCQB: HRGN +$0.05 <+995 shares traded> after Monday’s $0.00)
  • Beam Therapeutics (BEAM +$0.05 after Monday’s -$0.44),
  • Caribou Biosciences (CRBU +$0.04),

Flat (2)

  • bluebird bio (BLUE) P/E acquired
  • Homology Medicine (FIXX)

Tuesday’s Closing DOWN (10 of 23): 

  • BioLife Solutions (BLFS -$0.55 after Monday’s +$0.26),
  • Mesoblast (MESO -$0.53 after Monday’s +$0.52)
  • Regenxbio (RGNX -$0.50 after Monday’s -$0.11),
  • Moderna (MRNA -$0.45 after Monday’s -$0.67),
  • Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals (RARE -$0.45 after Monday’s -$0.38),
  • Solid Biosciences (SLDB -$0.41 after Monday’s +$0.51),
  • Agenus (AGEN -$0.36 after Monday’s +$0.44),
  • uniQure NV (QURE -$0.32 after Monday’s -$0.23),
  • AxoGen (AXGN -$0.22),
  • Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR -$0.185)

 

The BOTTOM LINE: the cell and gene therapy sector got an injection of momentum after the previous month’s assaults from “uncle algo and his electronic trading dwarfs”

But I do love the smell of sentiment in the morning!!

 Reiterating, “Seems like market and partial sector immunity from global-political risks as markets and the cell and gene therapy sector flourished after being dragged in the “fog” of recent news developments.”

New week, 6/16 – 6/20 starts with a Monday positive close … followed by Tuesday’s negative close …

  • The week of 6/9 – 6/13; Friday, the cell and gene therapy sector stayed in negative territory following Thursday's trading session ended with a negative territory, after May's Producer Price Index (PPI) report following Wednesday's negative close after May's Consumer Price Index (CPI) report post Monday’s neutral close.
  • The cell and gene therapy sector popped Friday after Thursday’s reverses on Thursday from a negative open with a barely positive close after Wednesday’s positive close – although slipping …
  • Following upsides on Tuesday and Monday) after its “napping and waking” in the May share pricing doldrums initiated by a sweetener of BPMC getting an acquired by BMY, MRNA regulatory approval and BNTX’s partnership with BMY.

 

As I also wrote, about June… Some believe in a “June Swoon;” however, June will be no better or worse than any other month. Although, I consider the so-called summer rally after the peripatetic or wandering.”

  • Although historically, June (in the past) has been a slow or weak month – I/we just saw a tremendous start (6/2) with partnership, acquisition and regulatory news 
  • Also, ASCO opens this month with probably a lot of news flow attracting attention of funds such as hedges and electronic traders.

There are always some big ifs, especially given some of the headlines that could emanate after a past few months of news flatulence.

June ‘25: understand the “flow” …

  • 6/17 - Tuesday closed negative with 10 positive, 23 negative and 2 flats
  • 6/16 - Monday closed positive with 20 positive, 11 negative and 4 flats
  • 6/13 - Friday closed negative with 5 positive, 25 negative and 5 flats
  • 6/12 – Thursday closed negative with 7 positive, 23 negative and 5 flats
  • 6/11 - Wednesday closed negative with 6 positive, 25 negative and 4 flats
  • 6/10 – Tuesday closed positive with 17 positive, 15 negative and 3 flats
  • 6/9 – Monday closed neutral with 16 positive, 16 negative and 3 flats
  • 6/6 – Friday closed positive with 28 positive, 4 negative and 3 flats
  • 6/5 – Thursday closed positive with 16 positive, 15 negative and 4 flats
  • 6/4 – Wednesday closed positive with 18 positive, 13 negative and 4 flats
  • 6/3 - Tuesday closed positive with 24 positive, 8 negative and 3 flats
  • 6/2 - Monday closed positive with 25 positive, 7 negative and 3 flats

 

“I hate to be so negative or contrarian but, this is a NO spin zone and truth is its product; I can always be WRONG but, I am mostly EARLY!”

  • If I have learned one thing as a former research analyst in a venture and public fund, operating executive, x-FBI, x-military officer and an adjunct (MBA) business school professor now a journalist; my life and your portfolio are largely tied to knowledge of price movements and questioning pricing targets and more.

Why do I keep repeating, so investors can make the connection …

The top three (3) performing in the session:   

  • Tuesday: Verve Therapeutics (VERV), CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) and Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS)
  • Monday: Sage Therapeutics (SAGE), Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) and Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA)
  • Friday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Vericel (VCEL) and Sage Therapeutics (SAGE)

The worst three (3) in the session: 

  • Tuesday: BioLife Solutions (BLFS), Mesoblast (MESO) and Regenxbio (RGNX)
  • Monday: Vericel (VCEL), Moderna (MRNA) and Beam Therapeutics (BEAM)
  • Friday: Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals (RARE), BioLife Solutions (BLFS) and Regenxbio (RGNX)

Welcome to my world of defining the “grey’ in our universe!

  • Right up front, “I also hate to be so negative or contrarian but, this is a NO spin zone and facts are its product; I can always be WRONG but … I am mostly EARLY!”

 

Opinions expressed are those of the author and are subject to change, and not intended to be a forecast of future events, a guarantee of future results, nor investment advice. Whether information or intelligence is good, bad, or somewhere in between; I put into context what is relevant and useful for investors.  All investments are subject to risks. Investors should consider investment objectives.

Henry McCusker, the editor, and publisher of RegMed Investors does not hold or have positions in securities referred to in this publication. Regulation Analyst Certification (Reg AC): The research analyst primarily responsible for the content of this report certifies the following under Reg AC: I hereby certify that all views expressed in this report accurately reflect my personal views about the subject company or companies and it’s or their securities.

I also certify that no part of my compensation was, is or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific recommendations or views expressed in this report.