New Leaf backs Crispr's $38m boost to series-B

The funding adds to an earlier $64m series-B last year. The previous investment was led by Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Bayer Global Investments, while the second closing includes new institutional investors and specialized healthcare funds. Apart from New Leaf, Franklin Templeton Investments, Clough Capital Partners and Wellington Capital Management provided capital.

The funding will support the development of its gene-editing platform and programmes, and finance the expansion of Crispr's research and development organization in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The series-B closing comes just a week after federal regulators in the US approved Crispr's first clinical trial, which aims for the genome-editing technology to alter immune cells to attack cancer.

Previous funding
Versant Ventures provided a $25m series-A for Crispr in April 2014. One year later the startup held the first close on its series-B at $64m, backed by corporate investment arm Bayer Global Investments, biopharma company Celgene, GlaxoSmithKline's corporate venture capital arm SR One, Vertex Ventures, life sciences investment group Abingworth, New Enterprise Associates and Versant.

Company
Crispr is a gene-editing company focused on the development of gene-based medicines for serious diseases using its proprietary Crispr gene-editing platform.

The business was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Basel, while its research and development operations are based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

People
Versant Ventures – Tom Woiwode (managing director).
Crispr Therapeutics – Rodger Novak (CEO).

Advisers
Company – Guggenheim Securities (financial due diligence); Vischer (legal); Goodwin Procter (legal).

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• Early-stage
• DACH
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