CRISPR Therapeutics Reports Wider-Than-Expected Q4 Loss, Sales Miss Estimates

CRISPR Therapeutics reported a fourth-quarter 2025 loss of $1.37 per share, wider than the consensus estimate of a loss of $1.15. The company's total revenues, comprising only grant revenues, amounted to $0.9 million in the quarter, significantly missing the consensus estimate of $4.0 million.

The company had incurred a loss of 44 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. In the year-ago period, CRISPR Therapeutics recorded total revenues of $35.7 million, which included $35 million in collaboration revenues received from partner Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics were down in after-market trading following the earnings release.

Research and development expenses rose 16% year over year to $83.5 million, driven by an increase in licensing fees. General and administrative expenses were up about 2% to $18.4 million in the quarter. CRISPR Therapeutics reported net collaboration expense of $53.7 million in the quarter compared with $10.4 million recorded in the year-ago period. In the year-ago period, the company had exercised an option to defer specified costs under the Casgevy program. The uptick in expenses reflects the absence of a comparable deferral in 2025.

As of Dec. 31, 2025, the company had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities worth $1.98 billion compared with $1.94 billion as of Sept. 30, 2025. This rise in cash was primarily due to proceeds from the issuance of common shares.

CRISPR Therapeutics and partner Vertex Pharmaceuticals' CRISPR/Cas9 gene therapy, Casgevy, is approved across the United States and Europe for two blood disorder indications — sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia. Per the deal terms, Vertex leads global development, manufacturing and commercialization of Casgevy, and splits program costs and profits worldwide with CRISPR Therapeutics in a 60:40 ratio.

Vertex recorded Casgevy sales of $54 million in the fourth quarter, up from $16.9 million in the previous quarter. With this, Vertex has recorded $116 million in full-year 2025 sales of the therapy, driven by patient initiations and first cell collections that rose about three times compared to 2024 levels. CRISPR Therapeutics expects this momentum to continue in 2026, backed by continued uptake for therapy and reimbursement progress across major regions.

Vertex and CRISPR have planned regulatory submissions seeking label expansion for Casgevy in patients aged five to 11 years with sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia in the first half of 2026. For the FDA submission, Vertex intends to use the Commissioner's National Priority Voucher to significantly cut down the review period to 1-2 months.

CRISPR Therapeutics is pursuing the development of CRISPR candidates to create novel CAR-T cell therapies. One such candidate is zugo-cel, which is being evaluated for both autoimmune disease and hematologic malignancies across multiple early-stage studies. Updates on these studies are expected in the second half of 2026.

CRISPR Therapeutics is also focusing on in-vivo candidates. It is currently prioritizing the development of CTX310, designed to target ANGPTL3, in an early-stage study for severe hypertriglyceridemia and refractory hypercholesterolemia. An update on this study is expected in the second half of 2026.

The collaboration with Sirius Therapeutics has helped the company diversify its pipeline beyond gene therapies and into RNA therapeutics. Both companies are developing an investigational RNA therapy called CTX611 (formerly SRSD107), in a mid-stage study for the prevention of venous thromboembolism in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty. Top-line data from this study are expected in the second half of 2026. CRISPR and Sirius have also expanded the drug's development to a range of thromboembolic and clotting-related indications, including atrial fibrillation and chronic kidney disease.