Been watching this gene-editing play that Cathie Wood's been backing, and it's had quite the year. Intellia Therapeutics is up 47% so far in 2026, which honestly caught a lot of people's attention after the rough patch it hit last year.

Here's what happened: The FDA basically froze two late-stage trials for their lead candidate nex-z back in 2025 after a patient death linked to liver complications. That obviously tanked the stock. But recently, the FDA lifted those clinical holds, which is why we're seeing this bounce back. The company's working on treatments for some pretty serious rare diseases—hereditary angioedema and transthyretin amyloidosis—where current options are basically non-existent.

The partnership with Regeneron is solid, and if nex-z works as intended, it could be a one-shot cure for transthyretin amyloidosis. That's legitimately compelling for a patient population with limited options.

But here's where I get cautious: Nobody's actually confirmed whether nex-z caused that liver failure or not. That uncertainty is a real problem. Gene-editing medicines are already tough to commercialize because they're expensive and complex. Add a potential safety question mark, and you've got a harder sales pitch to payers.

Cathie Wood has a track record of backing high-risk, high-reward biotech plays, and this fits that pattern. The upside is there if the clinical data holds up. But the downside risks are substantial too—regulatory hurdles, safety concerns, adoption challenges. This is definitely a 'only invest what you can afford to lose' type of situation.

The real question is whether the regulatory recovery is priced in yet or if there's still room to run. Given the volatility biotech typically sees, probably worth monitoring the next trial data before making a move.