Verve Therapeutics initiated with a Neutral at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Rick Bienkowski initiated coverage of Verve Therapeutics with a Neutral rating and $21 price target. The development of gene-editing medicines for a mass market indication carries heightened clinical and commercial risk compared to other gene editing programs, and Cantor Fitzgerald believes the FDA has shown scrutiny in initiating in vivo gene-editing clinical trials in the U.S., the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm expects the degree of scrutiny to increase as clinical studies transition from the high-risk heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia patients to broader patient populations.