News of a fresh investigational program was putting some zip into the shares of gene-editing company Prime Medicine (PRME) across recent trading sessions. According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, in reaction, bullish investors were propelling the company's stock over 12% higher week to date as of early Thursday evening.

Targeting a lung and liver disorder

Prime's encouraging news came on Tuesday when the company announced it had launched a preclinical program aimed at treating alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD). This is a genetic disorder caused by a mutation in a gene that limits the body's capability to produce a necessary protein and can badly affect the lungs and liver.

The ambitious biotech's goal is to file an investigational new drug (IND) and/or clinical trial application (CTA) for this with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the middle of next year.

Prime added that the AATD program leverages its universal liver lipid nanoparticle (LNP) to edit the offending gene.

In the press release touting its latest investigational path, the biotech quoted CEO Keith Gottesdiener as saying that it

exemplifies our strategy of using our proprietary, modular liver LNP to accelerate the development of new Prime Editors, as well as our ability to leverage learnings, regulatory frameworks and manufacturing synergies to efficiently advance our efforts.

The tough work begins

A new program aimed at combating a pernicious disorder is usually greeted well by biotech investors, and Prime's news was no different. Now, however, comes the hard part. Many eyes will be on the company as it travels down the path of developing that AATD treatment. There's no guarantee it'll succeed, of course, but it's quite encouraging that it's getting into the fight.