Licensing deal with Regeneron to accelerate CRISPR biotech Intellia (Jennifer Doudna’s Start Up) for an IPO

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Licensing deal with Regeneron to accelerate CRISPR biotech Intellia (Jennifer Doudna’s Start Up) for an IPO

April 12, 2016 by 2012pharmaceutical

Licensing deal with Regeneron to accelerate CRISPR biotech Intellia (Jennifer Doudna’s Start Up) for an IPO

Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

UPDATED on 4/27/2016

CRISPR Firm Intellia Prices IPO at $16 to $18 Per Share

Apr 27, 2016

a GenomeWeb staff reporter

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Intellia Therapeutics has priced shares for its upcoming initial public offering in the range of $16 to $18, according to an amendment to its preliminary prospectus filed today with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing firm also announced in the amended prospectus that it will offer 5 million shares of common stock in the IPO, and that the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research has agreed to concurrently purchase $5 million in common stock in a separate private placement at a price equal to the offering price.

Intellia had previously announced that Regeneron Pharmaceuticals would purchase $50 million in stock in a similar private placement.

The share pricing places a $90 million ceiling on the offering, though the company is also making 750,000 shares available to the IPO underwriters which would bring the total value to no more than $103.5 million.

Intellia filed is preliminary prospectus with the SEC on April 9.

According to that filing, the firm had $75.8 million in cash and cash equivalents and $66.9 million in working capital as of Dec. 31, 2015.

SOURCE

https://www.genomeweb.com/gene-silencinggene-editing/crispr-firm-intellia-prices-ipo-16-18-share?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20News:%20Illumina%27s%20Overseas%20NIPT%20Patent%20Suits%20Rescheduled%20to%202017%20-%2004/27/2016%2003:50:00%20PM

UPDATED on 4/16/2016

Intellia is one of a handful of biotechs which is pioneering the use of the technology in drug development. Launched by Atlas Venture and partnered closely with Novartis ($NVS), the technology at Intellia comes from a startup–Caribou– founded by UC Berkeley’s Jennifer Doudna, who worked closely with Emmanuelle Charpentier on making CRISPR/Cas9 ready for prime time. Those two have been battling Editas over control of the foundation IP, though there have been several new advances in just the past year.

The IP didn’t come cheap. According to the IPO, Intellia handed Doudna’s Caribou a $21.5% stake in the company. Novartis has a 20.3% interest while Atlas retained 17%.

Regeneron, which has been scoring a swift series of late-stage wins with Sanofi, is paying a $75 million upfront and promised $50 million for the next round, which follows a $70 million fundraising last fall that clearly outlined the biotech’s yearning for a public offering.

Now allied closely with a pair of the biggest players in biopharma, Intellia has laid the foundation for an IPO that will attempt to win over a wary set of investors–many of whom have steered clear of biotech as the sector was pummeled over recent months. Intellia will be banking on the allure of an emerging technology that allowed Editas to get out on the market successfully in the face of severe headwinds.

Read more at SOURCE

http://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/125m-regeneron-deal-hand-crispr-cas9-star-intellia-files-for-ipo?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal&mrkid=993697&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiT1Roa1pEQmhaR1F4Wm1ZMyIsInQiOiJkNjZXdXI1bWlLV0h4d2I5NVozWndkZHZhV09DV0Frd1VUczFjNDNaQ3NxWDhcLzNXckR5b2J3cXI3M3VQRnpyZjZGaGY2K0tRWDFqZnRKSElpU0R4djFQbTVra0VHeGU3a0ZJRVZuZFJEWnM9In0%3D

UPDATED On 4/16/2016

April 11, 2016

Regeneron and Intellia Therapeutics Announce Collaboration to Discover and Develop CRISPR/Cas Therapeutics

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) and Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. announced today a licensing and collaboration agreement to advance CRISPR/Cas gene-editing technology for in vivo therapeutic development. In addition to the discovery, development and commercialization of new therapies, the companies will focus on technology development of the CRISPR/Cas platform.

Under the terms of the six-year agreement, Regeneron has the exclusive right to discover and develop CRISPR-based products against up to 10 targets, focused primarily on therapies for a broad range of diseases that may be treated by editing genes in the liver. Of the 10 targets, Regeneron can select up to five non-liver targets. Non-liver targets from Intellia’s ongoing and planned research, as well as targets included in another Intellia collaboration, are excluded from this collaboration.

Intellia will receive a $75 million upfront payment and is eligible to receive significant milestone and royalty payments on potential Regeneron products. Intellia and Regeneron have agreed to co-develop and co-commercialize a certain number of targets that are generated during the collaboration. Transthyretin amyloidosis is the first target to be jointly developed and potentially commercialized by the companies. Regeneron has also agreed to invest up to $50 million in Intellia’s next equity financing.

“Our industry-leading human genetics research with the Regeneron Genetics Center is already identifying important genetic targets, building on our long-standing expertise in genetic engineering,” said George D. Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Regeneron and President of Regeneron Laboratories. “We believe combining these capabilities with Intellia’s technology holds real promise for serious diseases that have been historically difficult to address, and expands our ability to help patients where antibody-based therapies may not be the optimal solution.”

CRISPR/Cas9 is a gene-editing technology that can cut DNA in precise locations, providing the opportunity to selectively knock out, repair or insert specific genetic sequences. It has potential application across multiple therapeutic areas including autoimmune diseases, metabolic and blood disorders, cancer and rare and genetic-based diseases.

“We are excited to be partnering with Regeneron, an industry leader in human genetics research,” said Nessan Bermingham, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Intellia Therapeutics. “Regeneron’s focus on advancing science to medicine is an excellent fit with Intellia’s approach, and together, we aim to bring potential cures to patients who are suffering from life-threatening rare diseases and genetic diseases.”

About Intellia Therapeutics
Intellia Therapeutics is a leading gene editing company focused on the development of proprietary products utilizing a recently developed biological tool known as the CRISPR/Cas9 system.

About Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Regeneron (NASDAQ: REGN) is a leading science-based biopharmaceutical company based in Tarrytown, New York that discovers, invents, develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines for the treatment of serious medical conditions. Regeneron commercializes medicines for high LDL cholesterol, eye diseases and a rare inflammatory condition and has product candidates in development in other areas of high unmet medical need, including oncology, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, atopic dermatitis, pain, and infectious diseases. For additional information about the company, please visit www.regeneron.com or follow @Regeneron on Twitter.

SOURCE

http://investor.regeneron.com/releaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=964496

CRISPR biotech Intellia strikes licensing deal with Regeneron, readies IPO

By Ned Pagliarulo | April 11, 2016

http://www.biopharmadive.com/news/crispr-biotech-intellia-strikes-licensing-deal-with-regeneron-readies-ipo-1/417229/

Dive Brief:

Intellia Therapeutics, one of several companies working to develop CRISPR/Cas 9 technology commercially, on Monday filed to go public in an initially priced $120 million IPO. Concurrently, the biotech announced a collaboration and licensing deal with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals aimed at advancing up to 10 CRISPR-based programs, focusing primarily on liver diseases.
Regeneron will pay Intellia $75 million upfront, as well as investing $50 million in Intellia’s forthcoming IPO. Additionally, the agreement includes as much as $320 million in milestone payments, according to SEC filing documents.
The first program to be co-developed with Regeneron will target a rare genetic disorder known as ATTR, which can causes severely impaired nerve or cardiac function.

Dive Insight:

Intellia is one of several companies developing commerical CRISPR treatments, competing with the likes of CRISPR Therapeutics, Editas Medicine, and others. Editas Medicine has already gone public, with $94 million offering in February.

The new collaboration agreement with Regeneron will help Intellia develop new in vivo therapries, where CRISPR products are delivered directly into the body. Under the six-year agreement, Regeneron will have exclusive rights to develop products against up to 10 targets, at least five of which will be focused on diseases treatable by editing genes found in the liver.

For example, Intellia hopes CRISPR gene-editing can cure the genetic disorder ATTR, which is caused by a buildup of the transthyretin (TTR) protein in tissue. By “knocking out” TTR expression in the liver, Intellia could reduce or eliminate the disease-causing buildup.

In addition to ATTR, Intellia is developing three other liver programs and expects one to two of the programs to reach clinical trials in the next 1 to 2 years.

PARTNERSHIP WITH NOVARTIS

Prior to this new deal, Intellia and Novartis had entered into a separate partnership focusing on CAR-T cells and hematopoietic stem cells. Novartis gained exclusive rights to Intellia’s CAR-T program, and the companies will jointly advance the stem cell therapies. Unlike the deal with Regeneron, the partnership with Novartis focuses on ex vivo therapies, in which cells are taken out of the body, genetically edited, and then re-introduced.

The Novartis partnership also comes with a hefty schedule of milestone payments. According to regulatory filings, Intellia is eligible for $230 million in milestone payments, along with single-digit royalties. However, Novartis now owns 20.3% of the company.

IP WARS

Intellia’s IPO documents also showed how the company could become embroiled in the high-stakes patent fight between the Broad Institute and UC Berkeley over CRISP/Cas 9 intellectual property.

The company sublicensed its technology from CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna’s biotech startup Caribou Biosciences. One of the patents Intellia received is now the subject of interference proceedings between the Broad and Berkeley. If the Broad wins, Intellia could face patent litigation on any of its CRISPR products in development or commercialization.

Furthermore, one of Intellia’s key competitors – Editas Medicine – received its CRISPR technology IP from a deal with the Broad, raising the stakes of the ongoing patent case even higher for Intellia.