Caribou raises $11M in series A

Gene editing company Caribou Biosciences Inc. (Berkeley, Calif.) raised $11 million in an untranched series A round from Fidelity Bioscience; Novartis; Mission Bay Capital; 5 Prime Ventures; and an undisclosed strategic partner. Jennifer Doudna, a Caribou co-founder and one of the inventors of CRISPR- Cas9 ( CRISPR-associated protein 9) gene editing technology, also invested in the round (see BioCentury Innovations, Jan. 8).

Caribou plans to license its CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology for research in the medical, agricultural and industrial biotech sectors. Last year, Caribou and Atlas Venture founded Intellia Therapeutics Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.) to develop therapeutics using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. In January, both Caribou and Intellia partnered with Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS;SIX:NOVN) (see BioCentury Extra, Jan. 7). ...