Pfizer makes equity investment in Caribou Biosciences

Akero Therapeutics

06/07/2023 15:41

July 6 (Reuters) - Pfizer  PFE.N  has invested $25
million to buy a minority stake in Caribou Biosciences  CRBU.O ,
making it the latest small biotechnology firm to attract the
pharmaceutical giant's interest.
    The news lifted shares of Caribou more than 61% in early
trade.
    Pfizer purchased nearly 4.7 million Caribou shares at $5.33
per share, Caribou said on Thursday, representing a premium of
about 30% over Caribou's previous close price. This represents
7.64% of outstanding shares in Caribou, according to Reuters'
calculation based on Refinitiv IBES data.
    The investment in the cell therapy developer follows a
string of deals made by Pfizer over the past few years with the
drugmaker flush with cash from sales of its COVID-19 products.
    In 2021, Pfizer had made an initial upfront investment of
$500 million, including a $350 million share purchase, in
migraine drug maker Biohaven Pharmaceutical  BHVN.N , a company
it acquired the following year.
    It also made a $25 million equity investment in Akero
Therapeutics  AKRO.O  last year. Akero is developing a drug to
treat a type of fatty liver disease called nonalcoholic
steatohepatitis (NASH), which affects 5% of Americans but
currently has no approved treatments.
    California-based Caribou was founded jointly by Jennifer
Doudna, a co-recipient of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for
developing a genome editing process using CRISPR - a method used
by bacterial defense system for millions of years to protect
themselves against viruses.
    Caribou, which is developing cell therapies using CRISPR
genome editing, said on Thursday it would use the proceeds from
Pfizer's investment to advance its experimental CAR-T cell
therapy, CB-011, that is currently being tested in an
early-stage trial in patients with a type of blood cancer. 

 (Reporting by Raghav Mahobe and Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing
by Maju Samuel)
 ((Raghav.Mahobe@thomsonreuters.com;))