Contrarius Global Equity Fund's Thoughts on CRISPR Therapeutics' (CRSP) Gene Editing Therapy

Contrarius Investment Management, an investment management company, released its third-quarter investor letter for the “Contrarius Global Equity Fund”. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund’s investor class returned 30.9% in the September quarter compared to 7.3% for the benchmark MSCI World Index, including reinvested net income, and 5.5% for the Average Global Equity Fund. The fund’s investment philosophy is independent of benchmark considerations, so the portfolios typically deviate from the benchmark World Index.  Additionally, please review the fund’s top five holdings to see its leading picks in 2025.

In its third-quarter 2025 investor letter, Contrarius Global Equity Fund highlighted stocks such as CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP). CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) is a gene editing company that specializes in developing gene-based medicines for serious human diseases. The one-month return for CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) was 4.63%, and its shares gained 37.12% over the last 52 weeks. On December 29, 2025, CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) stock closed at $53.97 per share, with a market capitalization of $5.143 billion.

Contrarius Global Equity Fund stated the following regarding CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) in its third quarter 2025 investor letter:

"In December 2023, after nearly 6 years of human clinical trials, the FDA approved the first CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing therapy. This therapy is CRISPR Therapeutics AG's (NASDAQ:CRSP) treatment for sickle cell disease.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a debilitating hereditary blood disorder that results in periods of excruciating pain and ultimately a life expectancy that is more than 20 years below the average. CRSP’s therapy, called Casgevy, knocks out the BCL11A gene, the gene responsible for suppression of foetal haemoglobin (HbF). With the gene’s activity disrupted, the body begins producing HbF on its own again. HbF naturally prevents sickle cell complications, providing a functional cure.

Sickle cell disease occurs in about 1 out of every 365 Black or African American births and about 1 out of every 16,300 Hispanic American births. CRSP has partnered with Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a much larger pharmaceutical company, to aid in commercialisation and distribution. Casgevy is not cheap, at about $2.2 million per use currently, but it should be a ‘one-and done’ treatment, and compares favourably to the lifetime impact from reduced healthcare costs from disease flare-ups (estimated to be between $4 million and $6 million). As part of the partnership with Vertex, CRSP retains 40% of profits worldwide. A potentially huge market opportunity given the estimate of 100,000 SCD sufferers in the US alone. Vertex appears to agree, it paid nearly $900 million upfront, and a further $200 million at FDA approval in order to increase their stake from 50% to 60%..." (Click here to read the full text)

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP)  is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. According to our database, 21 hedge fund portfolios held CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) at the end of the third quarter, compared to 26 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

In another article, we covered CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) and shared the list of best genomics stocks to invest in. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.