NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Editas Medicine said today that it has priced its previously announced public offering of 4 million shares of common stock at $22.50 per share, giving the transaction a value of $90 million before expenses.
Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan will act as joint book running managers. Cowen and Company is acting as lead manager while JMP Securities is acting as co-manager. Editas has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase an additional 600,000 shares.
The company said it intends to use the proceeds of the offering to fund preclinical studies and clinical trials for CRISPR-based human therapies including one for Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) 10. It will also use the funds for programs in non-malignant hematologic diseases, its collaboration with Juno Therapeutics on chimeric antigen receptor T cells, and expansion of its technology platform. Funds may also be used for working capital and other general corporate purposes.
The offering is expected to close on March 22.
During early morning trading on the Nasdaq, shares of Editas were down 6 percent at $23.37.