Scribe Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: SCTX), a clinical-stage gene editing company co-founded by Nobel Laureate Dr. Jennifer Doudna and backed by more than USD 180 million in partnership payments from Sanofi and Eli Lilly, filed an S-1 registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on July 5, 2026, initiating the IPO process on the Nasdaq Global Market. The filing matters to investors because it brings a high-profile CRISPR cardiovascular platform — validated by two major pharma partnerships and supported by crossover-grade institutional investors — into the public market at a time when genetic medicines for common diseases are attracting significant capital.
Share count and price range were not disclosed in the preliminary filing, as is standard for an initial S-1 registration statement. Final terms will appear in an amended prospectus. The overallotment option and lead bookrunners were not stated in the filing.
Scribe Therapeutics has raised approximately USD 150 million in equity financing since its 2017 founding, with investors named in the S-1 including Andreessen Horowitz, Avoro Capital, Menlo Ventures, OrbiMed, Perceptive Advisors, RA Capital Management, T. Rowe Price, and Wellington Management. The presence of Perceptive, T. Rowe Price, Wellington, and Avoro — all active crossover investors — in the pre-IPO cap table is a meaningful signal of institutional conviction ahead of the public listing. The combination of approximately USD 150 million in equity raised and more than USD 180 million in non-dilutive collaboration revenue from Sanofi and Lilly positions this as a capital-efficient clinical-stage company relative to peers, and among the higher-profile CRISPR-based biotech IPOs of the current market cycle.
Company background
Berkeley, California-based Scribe Therapeutics is developing in vivo CRISPR-based medicines targeting cardiovascular and metabolic disease, with an initial focus on atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Unlike rare disease gene therapies, cardiovascular indications offer significantly larger commercial opportunities but require substantially higher safety thresholds because treatments may be administered to broad patient populations. The company's platform rests on two proprietary technologies derived from a novel CasX enzyme: ELXR (Epigenetic Long-Term X-Repressor), designed for durable epigenetic silencing of genes without altering the underlying DNA sequence, and XE (X-Editor), designed for precise gene editing. Both were engineered using a machine learning-assisted, massively parallel experimental validation approach the company calls CRISPR by Design.
The lead asset, STX-1150, uses ELXR technology delivered via lipid nanoparticles to silence the PCSK9 gene in hepatocytes, aiming to produce durable LDL cholesterol reductions without permanent DNA modification. The filing states a first-in-human Phase I trial has been initiated in Australia under clearance from the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration, enrolling up to 64 adults with elevated LDL-C and increased ASCVD risk, with initial safety, tolerability, and LDL-C-lowering data anticipated in the first half of 2027.