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Gene editing biotech Caribou Biosciences sets terms for $203 million IPO

July 19, 2021
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Caribou Biosciences, a Phase 1 biotech developing gene edited cell therapies for multiple cancers, announced terms for its IPO on Monday.

The Berkeley, CA-based company plans to raise $203 million by offering 13.5 million shares at a price range of $14 to $16. At the midpoint of the proposed range, Caribou Biosciences would command a fully diluted market value of $827 million.

Caribou Biosciences is using its novel CRISPR platform, CRISPR hybrid RNA-DNA, or chRDNA (pronounced "chardonnay"), to develop genome-edited allogenic cell therapies. The company is initially targeting cell therapies for the treatment of cancers with cell surface targets for which autologous CAR-T cell therapeutics have previously shown proof of concept, including CD19, BCMA, and new targets. Caribou's lead program, CB-010, is a CAR-T cell therapy with PD-1 removed from the cell surface. CB-010 is currently in a Phase 1 trial for the treatment of relapsed or refractory B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma and is expected to report initial data in 2022.

Caribou Biosciences was founded in 2011 and booked $12 million in sales for the 12 months ended March 31, 2021. It plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol CRBU. BofA Securities, Citi, and SVB Leerink are the joint bookrunners on the deal. It is expected to price during the week of July 19, 2021.