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Genome editing company Precision proposes $100M IPO
https://www.biocentury.com/bc-extra/financial-news/2019-03-01/genome-editing-company-precision-proposes-100m-ipo

With plans to bring an allogeneic CAR T immunotherapy into the clinic, Precision BioSciences Inc. (Durham, N.C.) proposed Friday to raise up to $100 million in an IPO on NASDAQ.

Precision plans to start this half a Phase I/IIa trial of lead program, PBCAR0191, in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The allogeneic CAR T cell therapy targeting CD19 has Orphan Drug designation in the U.S. to treat ALL.

The company also has CAR T therapies targeting CD20, BCMA and CLEC12A in preclinical development. Precision plans to submit an IND to FDA for the CD20-targeting therapy in 4Q19, and is aiming to submit INDs for the other two programs next year.

The company has a one-step engineering process for producing allogeneic CAR T cells at large scale that it said is cost-effective and "will enable us to overcome the fundamental challenges of manufacturing that have limited the CAR T field to date."

Precision's programs are based on its genome editing platform, ARCUS, which generates synthetic nucleases that can insert, edit or remove DNA from genomes.

In September, Precision partnered with Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) to use ARCUS to develop therapies that eliminate the HBV virus in vivo (see "Gilead, Precision Partner on Genome-Editing Therapies for HBV").

Precision raised $110 million in a June series B led by ArrowMark Partners; it raised $25.6 million in its series A in 2015. To date, the company has raised $300 million through financings and deals (see "Precision BioSciences Raises $110M in Series B").

venBio is Precision's largest institutional shareholder, owning 11% of shares. F-Prime Capital holds nearly 10%.

Underwriters for the IPO are J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and Barclays.

Targets: BCMA (TNFRSF17; CD269) - Tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 17; CLEC12A (CLL1) - C-type lectin domain family 12 member A