Scribe reels in nearly $129M in rare early-stage IPO for a gene editing biotech

News Business Scribe reels in nearly $129M in rare early-stage IPO for a gene editing biotech July 24, 2026 | 3 min read | Tristan Manalac Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Email Print Jennifer Doudna–founded Scribe Therapeutics intends to use the proceeds from the public offering—the first for a gene editing outfit in over two years—to support development of its epigenetic silencing therapy for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Scribe Therapeutics has become the first gene editing outfit in over two years to raise funds through an initial public offering—and the biotech beat its predecessor Metagenomi in revenue by more than $30 million.Scribe reeled in nearly $129 million in its IPO, the California-based company announced Thursday, selling 8.58 million shares at $15 a piece. The bounty could still rise, as Scribe has given underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,287,000 shares of common stock at the IPO price, minus underwriting discounts and commissions. Scribe is expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq on Friday under the ticker SCTX.Notably, Scribe has also agreed to sell 500,000 shares of its common stock at $15 to Sanofi, with which it inked a licensing deal worth a potential $1 billion-plus to develop natural killer (NK) cell therapies for cancer using the biotech’s CRISPR platform. This would account for an additional $7.5 million. The bulk of the proceeds are expected to go toward the development of STX-1150, an investigational epigenetic silencing therapy for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). The candidate recently began human testing.Prior to Scribe, Metagenomi was the last gene editing biotech to file for IPO, raising $94 million in February 2024, according to BiopharmaDive.Original story published July 6 Early-stage Scribe wants to write IPO story even as investors favor derisked portfoliosScribe Therapeutics has filed for an initial public offering, seeking to trade on the Nasdaq Global Market and raise funds to support its CRISPR-based medicines designed to treat cardiometabolic conditions.The California-based biotech hasn’t yet indicated how much money it hopes to raise with the IPO. Nevertheless, the bulk of the proceeds will go toward its lead asset STX-1150, an investigational epigenetic silencing therapy that just entered human testing, according to Scribe’s prospectus filed July 2. The Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD) candidate is designed to suppress the expression of the PCSK9 gene, in turn lowering LDL cholesterol concentrations. Through STX-1150, Scribe aims to “improve on the real-world efficacy of small-molecule, antibody and siRNA therapies,” the biotech said, with the hope of delivering therapeutic treatment without permanently changing patients’ DNA sequence. STX-1150 is still early on in the drug development process, having recently entered a first-in-human study in Australia. Data from this trial are expected in the first half of 2027, according to the biotech’s prospectus.Aside from STX-1150, Scribe has two other assets, both still in preclinical development. The first, STX-1200, is made to reduce heightened lipoprotein(a) levels, while STX-1400 is under assessment for severely high triglycerides. The proposed IPO funding would also be used to advance these molecules.Scribe has yet to specify when it plans to close its IPO. While the Jennifer Doudna–founded biotech is still in the early days of drug development, it has already secured two pacts with major pharmas Sanofi and Eli Lilly. IPO Sky-high Parabilis, Kailera IPOs spur optimism—but only for derisked biotechs Biotechs are benefitting from the AI tech frenzy and inflation, but validated pipelines and careful planning are still key to the recent record-setting IPOs, experts say. June 11, 2026 · 5 min read · Annalee Armstrong Read more With its IPO announcement on Thursday, Scribe is braving the public market waters that in recent years turned chilly for early-stage biotechs and companies working on less-established technologies.“Where the pandemic-era class sold preclinical optionality, Parabilis and the 2026 cohort are being priced on de-risked clinical programs with clear regulatory paths,” Ben Zercher, senior analyst at PitchBook, told BioSpace last month.Zercher pointed specifically to Parabilis Medicines, which in June broke the industry’s IPO record with a $670 million raise, powering the advancement of its lead asset zolucatetide through Phase 3 development for desmoid tumors.Aside from Parabilis, there is also Kailera Therapeutics, which briefly held the IPO crown after dethroning Moderna in April, when the company raised $625 million. The money will support the Phase 3 development of lead asset ribupatide, a dual agonist of the GLP-1 and GIP receptors, much like Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide.Most recently, Kardigan closed its $400 million IPO last month, much of which will help push forward its lead program danicamtiv. The asset is similarly mature, undergoing Phase 2b/3 development for genetic dilated cardiomyopathy. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Email Print Cardiovascular disease IPO Tristan Manalac Tristan is BioSpace‘s senior staff writer. Based in Metro Manila, Tristan has more than eight years of experience writing about medicine, biotech and science. He can be reached at tristan.manalac@biospace.com, tristan@tristanmanalac.com or on LinkedIn.