CRISPR Market Projected to Grow 24.1% as Companies Hit Milestones, Launch New Technologies

The global prime editing and CRISPR market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 24.1% during the forecast period from 2024 to 2031. Market growth is driven by surging demand for precise gene editing therapies, expanding applications in rare genetic disorders and oncology, and promising clinical trial results demonstrating superior accuracy over traditional CRISPR-Cas9.

Scribe Therapeutics announced the achievement of a second success milestone for one of the targets in its collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company. The companies are working towards developing in vivo CRISPR-based genetic medicines for neurological and neuromuscular disorders. This latest milestone validates Scribe's proprietary X-Editor (XE) technology and is the second such event in Scribe and Lilly's collaboration. Under the terms of the original agreement announced in 2023, Scribe is eligible to receive more than $1.5 billion across all programs in milestone payments for the achievement of certain research, development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, as well as low-double-digit royalties.

The achievement further validates CRISPR by Design, Scribe's holistic, data-driven, and iterative engineering approach to deliberately optimize CRISPR-based medicines and apply them to specified targets that drive prevalent, high-burden diseases with significant unmet need. The company's lead candidate, STX-1150, is a novel liver-targeted therapy designed to epigenetically silence the PCSK9 gene and reduce LDL-C levels without inducing permanent DNA changes. Scribe expects to enter the clinic in mid-2026 with STX-1150 for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia.

Scribe's XE technology uses a staggered DNA cleavage mechanism to achieve high on-target activity, specificity, and flexibility across a range of applications, including gene knock-out, knock-down, knock-in, exon skipping, genetic excision, and other targeted modifications. The company has engineered its novel CasX enzyme with improved nuclease stability, DNA binding, cleavage activity, and specificity, resulting in greater than 100-fold higher editing than naturally occurring CasX in cell-based assays while maintaining exquisite specificity across target sites.

Cirena, based in Boulder, Colorado, has announced its public launch following successful delivery of high-quality long RNA to leading academic and pharmaceutical research teams across the US, Europe, and Japan. As CRISPR and prime editing applications advance, researchers are increasingly turning to longer guide RNAs and related constructs to boost editing efficiency and reduce off target effects. Cirena's proprietary technology maintains sequence integrity for demanding CRISPR and functional genomics workflows, with streamlined operations that reduce turnaround times for gRNA, pegRNA, and related designs.

Rapid advancements in delivery technologies like lipid nanoparticles, rising investments from biotech giants, supportive FDA approvals for investigational therapies, and growing partnerships between pharma companies and gene editing startups are propelling the market forward. In October 2025, the U.S. FDA unveiled a "plausible mechanism" pathway to accelerate approvals for personalized CRISPR and prime editing therapies for ultra-rare diseases.

Recent clinical developments include positive Phase I/II data announced in January 2026 for prime editing in chronic granulomatous disease, marking first human results with improved safety and precision over traditional CRISPR. In November 2025, one-time therapy results targeting ANGPTL3 for cholesterol reduction in early human trial expanded CRISPR applications to cardiovascular diseases. In China, SinoGene secured NMPA approval milestone in November 2025 for CRISPR therapy against Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Strategic mergers and acquisitions have accelerated market consolidation. Eli Lilly acquired Verve Therapeutics for up to $1.3 billion in June 2025, enhancing its CRISPR-based gene editing pipeline for cardiovascular therapies targeting PCSK9 and high cholesterol. GenScript Biotech signed a licensing agreement with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in March 2025 to access prime editing technology, bolstering its gene-editing research and development capabilities.

Prime editing enables precise, scarless DNA modifications without double-strand breaks, surpassing CRISPR-Cas9 limitations for treating genetic disorders like sickle cell disease and cystic fibrosis. The market was valued at USD 10.85 billion, with North America holding a 34.5% market share.