Scribe Therapeutics

Biotech · Gene Editing · Cardiovascular Disease

IPO

Eli Lilly-backed Scribe Therapeutics jumps 67% in upsized $128.7M IPO debut

Investors are betting gene-editing therapies can tackle common diseases like high cholesterol, not just ultra-rare genetic disorders.

• Scribe Therapeutics debuted on Nasdaq as SCTX and surged 67% on its first trading day, opening at $25 after pricing its upsized IPO at $15, raising $128.7 million.
• Co-founded by CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna and led by CEO Benjamin Oakes, the Alameda, California startup engineers in vivo gene-editing therapies aimed at common cardiometabolic diseases rather than rare disorders.
• Its lead candidate STX-1150 uses an epigenetic silencing technology called ELXR to repress the PCSK9 gene and durably lower LDL cholesterol without permanently altering DNA, now in a Phase 1 trial in Australia with data expected in the first half of 2027.
• Eli Lilly, already among the top pre-IPO shareholders, indicated interest in buying enough shares to reach an 11% stake post-offering, while Sanofi bought $7.5 million in a concurrent private placement.
• The debut valued Scribe at roughly $440.3 million; the company posted a $17.4 million net loss on just $2.2 million in collaboration revenue for the first quarter of 2026.
• Scribe is the first gene-editing company to go public in over two years, following Metagenomi's $94 million IPO in February 2024, and is the earliest-stage biotech among six firms expected to list this quarter.
• The pop shows investors are willing to bet on a pre-clinical-stage gene editor again, a contrast to 2026's broader biotech IPO wave that has favored more mature, later-stage drug developers.