Can Pfizer shake up a gene therapy race?

Novel technologies like gene therapy have historically been a matter left to small biotech companies, with pharma happy to sit on the sidelines until new ideas come good in the clinic. An exception is Pfizer, which bought into the field in 2016, and we’re about to find out whether the company can compete with its biotech compatriots.

On Friday, Pfizer will present a first glimpse of data from the catchily named PF-06939926, a gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Pfizer hasn’t said exactly what it will present, but analysts hope to get an early look at how well the therapy increases dystrophin, the protein missing in DMD patients.

And that has major implications for Sarepta Therapeutics and Solid Biosciences, two biotech companies with gene therapies of their own. If Pfizer’s treatment looks particularly promising, it’ll likely be a drag on Sarepta’s share price. But good news for Pfizer could be a positive for Solid, according to the analysts at J.P. Morgan. The company’s gene therapy has run into problems in the clinic, and a victory for Pfizer’s similar treatment could signal that there’s hope yet for Solid.