Jim Cramer Shed Light on These 9 Stocks

4. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 55

A caller mentioned disappointing news regarding Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated’s (NASDAQ:VRTX) drug suzetrigine and asked Cramer if the outlook was positive for the company or not.

“I’ll tell you, you know, I’ve gotta tell you… I was sorely disappointed on that. I was praying that they would have something that wouldn’t be addictive and it looks like it’s not working. I would not, you know, now it reflects the other great drugs they have and nothing good on that drug. But I don’t see a lot of upside because that was the drug of the future for Vertex.”

Vertex (NASDAQ:VRTX) focuses on developing and marketing therapies for cystic fibrosis (CF) and has a pipeline of treatments in clinical trials for multiple conditions. ClearBridge Investments stated the following regarding Vertex (NASDAQ:VRTX) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:

“For the quarter, health care was the largest drag on relative results as larger holdings Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) and UnitedHealth Group suffered losses. Vertex, a biotechnology company known for its cystic fibrosis treatments, was hurt by a setback in clinical trials for its new therapeutic, suzetrigine, in the chronic pain setting. The company is continuing forward for this indication in the hopes that altering the future design of its trial will yield more promising results. Additionally, Vertex hopes to commercially launch the drug for acute pain in the first quarter and is still seeing growth and patent life extension in its cystic fibrosis franchise. The company also has additional pipeline assets, most notably to treat mediated kidney disease and Type 1 diabetes, which gives us confidence in the company’s ability to sustain profitable growth over the long term.”