Amicus exits gene therapy

Amicus surprised investors in September with plans to spin off its gene therapy division into a Spac. Barely five months later it has surprised them again, today saying the deal was off.

The group cited poor market conditions for biotech Spacs and, perhaps more interestingly, an increasingly tough environment for standalone gene therapy companies. A look at the share price performance of some of these developers over past year shows that they have indeed had a rough ride.