Editas: The high-risk, high-reward gene editing pioneer

Among the first four gene editing companies, Editas stood apart as the only player willing to apply the then-new technology of CRISPR-Cas9 to a target and indication lacking prior development. That high-risk, high-reward approach did not pay off, but the company has persisted to apply the lessons it learned from its lead program to its next therapies.

Rather than start in a setting crowded with other therapeutic modalities, Editas Medicine Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT), after its founding in 2013, opted to go for indications in the eye that could not be treated with other technologies...