Crispr Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) saw its shares drop sharply Wednesday, after reporting a 4.25-million share common stock offering.
The Swiss-based biopharmaceutical company, with offices in Cambridge, Mass., focuses on developing transformative gene-based medicines for serious diseases. In addition to the stock offering, the underwriters will have a 30-day option to purchase up to 637,500 additional common shares at the public offering price less the underwriting discount.
Goldman Sachs, Piper Jaffray & Co. and Jefferies are behind the offering, which is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed or as to the actual size or terms of the offering.
The company was also in the news Tuesday with an announcement that preliminary data on two patients with severe blood disorders treated with gene therapy CTX001 in Phase 1/2 studies.
One patient with transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia who required 16.5 transfusions/year received CTX001 in Q1, followed by neutrophil engraftment (33 days after CTX001 infusion) and platelet engraftment (37 days after CTX001 infusion).
At month nine, the patient was transfusion independent with total hemoglobin levels of 11.9 g/dL (normal range for women: 12.0 - 15.5 g/dL, men: 13.5 - 17.5 g/dL), 10.1 g/dL fetal hemoglobin, and 99.8% F-cells (erythrocytes expressing fetal hemoglobin).
CRISPR is a leading gene-editing company focused on developing transformative gene-based medicines for serious diseases using its proprietary CRISPR/Cas9 platform.
Shares in CRSP fell $2.14, or 3.1%, to $66.32
