MANY MINDEDGene-editing startup raises $129M to chase one-shot cholesterol therapy
Scribe Therapeutics priced an initial public offering expected to raise about $128.7 million in gross proceeds, issuing 8.6 million shares at $15 each — the top of its stated $13-15 range, and more shares than the 7.1 million it had proposed earlier in the week. The stock trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker SCTX, with underwriters holding an option to buy 1.3 million more shares that could add $19.3 million. Sanofi, a research partner since 2023, agreed to buy roughly $7.5 million of stock in a concurrent private placement.
Scribe is an in vivo gene editing company launched in 2020 with backing from Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna and led by co-founder Benjamin Oakes, who trained in Doudna's group. Its lead candidate, STX-1150, targets the PCSK9 gene — the same target as approved drugs like Amgen's Repatha and Novartis' Leqvio. The company plans to spend $30-35 million on an ongoing phase 1 study in Australia enrolling patients with elevated cholesterol.
The abundance premise is a one-time edit replacing chronic medication. PCSK9-lowering pills and injections already exist but require ongoing dosing; a durable gene edit could shift cardiovascular prevention toward a single intervention, changing the long-term cost picture for a common condition.
Watch for topline phase 1 data, expected in the first half of 2027. The caveats are real: STX-1150 is only in early human testing, follow-on programs targeting APOC3 and LPA remain preclinical, and the financing figures are company expectations tied to pricing, not banked outcomes.
Source: Fierce Biotech