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Weekly reads: Chinese CRISPR biotechs, cultured meat war, MSCs for Alzheimer’s

Chinese CRISPR research continues to grow and this includes interesting CRISPR biotech firms. Some here in the U.S. worry that American gene editing firms could be lagging behind. Especially over the past year, investors and even some scientists have voiced frustration.

U.S. gene editing firms like Editas have been struggling for years. Its stock is down 93% over the past 5 years. CRISPR Therapeutics has had a pretty solid past 5 years but is substantially down more recently. Can they turn things around? What other CRISPR biotechs or stocks are you following?

What’s going on in China with gene editing?

HuidaGene Therapeutics, Chinese CRISPR biotech

HuidaGene Therapeutics is a notable Chinese CRISPR biotech. This is a firm image summarizing its pipeline.

Chinese CRISPR biotechs

STAT News recently published: These 12 Chinese companies are poised to transform CRISPR gene-editing. Are regulations or research investments in China substantially different for gene editing than in the U.S.?

Hui Yang, a leader of one of the 12 firms, HuidaGene Therapeutics, is a name that rang a bell for me. I think it’s the same person I remember from the past. He was someone who at one point seemed potentially interested in doing human germline CRISPR. Maybe the article quoting him five years ago was incorrect.

The dynamic between U.S. and Chinese CRISPR biotechs is on people’s minds. From STAT:

“In many areas, Chinese companies have been more aggressive, pushing into diseases that their U.S. counterparts have shied away from, including in Duchenne muscular dystrophy and herpes virus. That willingness has raised eyebrows among some executives and academics in the U.S., while exciting others who fear the American regulators and companies have been too conservative.

However, in other areas, the U.S. remains ahead, as is the case with beta thalassemia, for which Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics secured the first approval of a treatment. Nonetheless, Chinese companies like Yoltech Therapeutics are pioneering in vivo gene-editing therapies for beta thalassemia, hoping to offer a cost-effective and quicker alternative to existing treatments.”