Search
Close this search box.

Verve’s choice of lead application left little room to impress

ARTICLE | Product Development

Company achieves landmark POC for base editing technology, but with safety concerns and efficacy of approved therapies already high, its shares take a hit

By Lauren Martz, Executive Director, Biopharma Intelligence

November 14, 2023 2:15 AM UTC

The first ever clinical readout of an in vivo base editing therapy disappointed investors Monday, showing that initial target and indication selection for a new modality or technology can have a major impact on how proof-of-concept data are perceived.

Verve Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:VERV) lost 41% of its value, translating to a loss in market cap of $410 million, after debuting safety and efficacy data for VERVE-101, a base editing therapy that disrupts PCSK9 expression in the liver to treat heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. Verve shares closed at $9.29, giving the company a market cap of about $590 million…