A startup that wants to start using a controversial gene-editing tool in people by 2017 just filed to go public
By Lydia Ramsey,
Business Insider
| 01. 04. 2016
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A gene-editing company that hopes to start using a controversial new technique — which has so far only been tested in animals and non-viable human embryos — in people by 2017 just filed to go public.
Editas Medicine, a startup based in Cambridge, Massachusetts that is working on potential uses for the gene-editing tool CRISPR, plans to trade under the ticker EDIT, according to a filing on Monday.
CRISPR-Cas9 is a technology that allows scientists to swap a particular, potentially faulty gene with another, potentially healthy one. So far, the technology hasn't been used in people (except in non-viable human embryos), meaning Editas's 2017 trial would be a first.
The company plans to use the IPO proceeds to fund the clinical trials and preclinical studies, and to expand its technology. Editas said it also expects opportunities to expand through acquisition of other companies, products or technologies and could use some of the funds for those deals. Editas filed for the IPO with a $100 million placeholder amount, though that's likely to change.
Editas was founded in part by Jennifer Doudna and Feng Zhang, two...
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