Prime Medicine pact with Bristol doesn’t change thesis, says Stifel

Stifel keeps a Hold rating on Prime Medicine (PRME) after the company announced a partnership with Bristol Myers (BMY), which includes an upfront payment of $110M, split 50-50 between cash and equity investment. Despite meaningful payouts, Stifel would like to see “further concrete evidence de-risking this partnership, the payouts, as well as the utility of this technology in cell-therapy before greater value can be ascribed to the underlying platform,” the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says that while Prime Medicine has an important role unlocking the potential of prime editing as well as selective gene insertion, pending future de-risking events and data, today’s announcement “strikes us as more of an encouraging sign of progress rather than a seal of approval.”