Precision BioSciences Stock Gets Nice Bounce at IPO

Early buyers were willing to pay a premium today to own a piece of Durham-based Precision BioSciences.

The genome-editing company focused on creating better foods and medicines raised  $126 million in its initial public offering (IPO) of stock Wednesday evening, selling 7.9 million shares for $16 apiece.

The shares started trading this morning on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol DTIL, an acronym for “dedicated to improving life,” improving the company’s financial life as the stock bubbled as high as $19 a share by early afternoon.

In a March 1 registration statement filed with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it would use proceeds from the IPO to advance and expand its clinical and preclinical development programs and build out its planned manufacturing facility, compliant with current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) set by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Precision, which has about 125 employees, has developed a genome-editing platform called ARCUS that has applications in food, agriculture and health care. Its lead therapeutic product candidate is a cancer immunotherapy for two types of blood cancer: B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The company received authorization from the FDA last year to begin a study of the therapy, known as an allogeneic anti-CD19 CAR T therapy. A Phase 1/2a clinical trial of the therapy is expected to begin in the first half of this year in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Precision is also developing an in vivo gene-correction platform for addressing various genetic diseases.

Last year the company created a new name and brand identity, Elo Life Systems, for its food and agriculture business. Elo will use the ARCUS platform and other new technologies for applications in crop improvement, animal genetics, industrial biotechnology and sustainable agriculture.