Prime Medicine Inc, a biotechnology company specializing in gene editing, debuted on the Nasdaq Thursday after pricing one of the year’s largest IPOs in the sector.
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company priced an upsized 10,294,118 shares of common stock at a public price of $17 each, good for expected gross proceeds of $175 million.
Trading opened at $18.70 under the ticker PRME, but since then the stock has fallen to $15.55 Thursday afternoon, more than 8% below its priced value.
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Prime Medicine’s signature technology is prime editing, which it calls a “next-generation gene-editing approach" that is more precise than CRISPR-based gene editing techniques. Specifically, it claims to be capable of swapping out individual DNA letters and editing or adding nucleotide sequences.
The goal is to treat diseases such as Sickle Cell Disease, Wilson's Disease, and certain neuromuscular conditions.
The company’s lead program is focused on Sickle Cell Disease. It is currently in the discovery phase and being co-developed with Beam Therapeutics, according to reports. The program is the only one of its 18 total that is not being developed completely in-house.
Notably, Prime Medicine’s IPO is the largest of 2022 for a biotech company that has not begun human trials, according to data from BioPharma Dive.
The company is led by CEO Keith Gottesdiener, who joined the company in 2020 after serving as CEO of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals and heading up Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK)’s former clinical development organization.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
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