Intellia Therapeutics’ Gene Editing Technology looks promising; FVE $85, shares undervalued

Business Strategy & Outlook

Intellia Therapeutics is a gene editing company focused on the development of CRISPR/Cas9-based therapeutics. Intellia’s technology platform specializes in Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9, which precisely cuts DNA to disrupt, delete, correct, and insert genes to treat genetically defined diseases. CRISPR/Cas9 has created a new class of medicines, which are well suited for targeting rare diseases or other disorders that are caused by genetic mutations. CRISPR/Cas9 works by having CRISPR (pieces of DNA sequences) guide Cas9 (an enzyme that can cut and edit DNA) to edit, alter, or repair genes. Intellia is utilizing this gene knockout approach to remove unwanted proteins using its proprietary lipid nanoparticle delivery system. Intellia has leveraged its expertise in CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to advance a pipeline of in vivo and ex vivo therapies for diseases with high unmet medical needs. The company’s proprietary technology has the potential to build blockbusters in rare diseases with limited treatment options available.

Intellia currently has no approved drugs and a largely early-stage pipeline, so refrain from awarding the company an economic moat. Intellia’s most advanced in vivo candidates are NTLA-2001 for the treatment of transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR) and NTLA-2002 for the treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE). NTLA-2001 is part of a co-development and co-promotion agreement with narrow-moat Regeneron, in which Intellia is the clinical and commercial lead party and Regeneron is the participating party. Regeneron shares in 25% of worldwide development costs and commercial profits for the ATTR program. The Intellia will retain 75% of economic profits of NTLA-2001, if approved, and the company also has the expertise and financial support of Regeneron to offset some of the development costs. In addition, the NTLA-2002 is wholly owned by Intellia. The rest of Intellia’s pipeline is either in early (Phase 1) or pre-clinical stages of development. While Intellia does not currently have approved products, the company provides long-term investors with pure play exposure to gene editing.

Financial Strengths

Intellia Therapeutics is in fair financial health. The company has no approved products, so its revenue currently comes from collaboration payments. At the end of 2021, Intellia had just over $1 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, which is a healthy amount to support additional investments in the company’s pipeline. As an early-stage biotechnology company, Intellia has so far only operated at a net loss. The company will not achieve positive net income until 2026 due to its early-stage pipeline and the lengthy development and regulatory approval process.

Bulls Say

Intellia’s partnerships allow it to receive milestones and economic benefits from drug candidate progression while offsetting some of the clinical development costs.
Intellia’s CRISPR/Cas9 platform has the potential to develop highly efficacious and curative treatments for rare, genetic diseases with high unmet needs, which will likely lead to pricing power if approved.
The company’s pipeline as possessing strengthening intangible assets and assign it a positive moat trend.

Company Description

Intellia Therapeutics is a gene editing company focused on the development of CRISPR/Cas9-based therapeutics. CRISPR/Cas9 stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9), which is a revolutionary technology for precisely altering specific sequences of genomic DNA. Intellia is focused on using this technology to treat genetically defined diseases. It’s evaluating multiple gene editing approaches using in vivo and ex vivo therapies to address diseases with high unmet medical needs, including ATTR amyloidosis, hereditary angioedema, sickle cell disease, and immuno-oncology. Intellia has formed collaborations with several companies to advance its pipeline, including narrow-moat Regeneron and wide-moat Novartis.

(Source: Morningstar)

DISCLAIMER for General Advice: (This document is for general advice only).

This document is provided by Laverne Securities Pty Ltd T/as Laverne Investing. Laverne Securities Pty Ltd, CAR 001269781 of Laverne Capital Pty Ltd AFSL No. 482937.

The material in this document may contain general advice or recommendations which, while believed to be accurate at the time of publication, are not appropriate for all persons or accounts. This document does not purport to contain all the information that a prospective investor may require. The material contained in this document does not take into consideration an investor’s objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on the advice, investors should consider the appropriateness of the advice, having regard to the investor’s objectives, financial situation, and needs. The material contained in this document is for sales purposes. The material contained in this document is for information purposes only and is not an offer, solicitation or recommendation with respect to the subscription for, purchase or sale of securities or financial products and neither or anything in it shall form the basis of any contract or commitment. This document should not be regarded by recipients as a substitute for the exercise of their own judgment and recipients should seek independent advice.

The material in this document has been obtained from sources believed to be true but neither Laverne and Banyan Tree nor its associates make any recommendation or warranty concerning the accuracy or reliability or completeness of the information or the performance of the companies referred to in this document. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Any opinions and or recommendations expressed in this material are subject to change without notice and, Laverne and Banyan Tree are not under any obligation to update or keep current the information contained herein. References made to third parties are based on information believed to be reliable but are not guaranteed as being accurate.

Laverne and Banyan Tree and its respective officers may have an interest in the securities or derivatives of any entities referred to in this material. Laverne and Banyan Tree do and seek to do business with companies that are the subject of its research reports. The analyst(s) hereby certify that all the views expressed in this report accurately reflect their personal views about the subject investment theme and/or company securities.

Although every attempt has been made to verify the accuracy of the information contained in the document, liability for any errors or omissions (except any statutory liability which cannot be excluded) is specifically excluded by Laverne and Banyan Tree, its associates, officers, directors, employees, and agents. Except for any liability which cannot be excluded, Laverne and Banyan Tree, its directors, employees and agents accept no liability or responsibility for any loss or damage of any kind, direct or indirect, arising out of the use of all or any part of this material. Recipients of this document agree in advance that Laverne and Banyan Tree are not liable to recipients in any matters whatsoever otherwise; recipients should disregard, destroy or delete this document. All information is correct at the time of publication. Laverne and Banyan Tree do not guarantee reliability and accuracy of the material contained in this document and are not liable for any unintentional errors in the document.

The securities of any company(ies) mentioned in this document may not be eligible for sale in all jurisdictions or to all categories of investors. This document is provided to the recipient only and is not to be distributed to third parties without the prior consent of Laverne and Banyan Tree.