Goodwin biopharmaceutical client CRISPR Therapeutics AG has been named the winner of the 2016 Dive Awards’ Most Valuable Pharma Deal of the Year by BioPharma Dive, an industry news publisher, for a joint venture with Bayer called Casebia Therapeutics.
Goodwin advised CRISPR in the joint venture, where Bayer has committed to providing $300 million in funding and a $35 million equity investment in CRISPR.
The team representing CRISPR was led by partners Mitch Bloom and Robert Puopolo and included partners Chris Denn and Daniel Karelitz and associate Emily Beman.
Earlier this year, Goodwin also advised CRISPR Therapeutics on its recently completed initial public offering of four million shares of its common stock at $14.00 per share. CRISPR also received $35 million from a concurrent private placement of 2.5 million shares to an affiliate of Bayer AG. The shares priced on October 18 and began trading on the NASDAQ Global Market under the ticker symbol CRSP on October 19.
Founded in 2013, with headquarters in Basel, Switzerland and R&D operations in Cambridge, Massachusetts, CRISPR Therapeutics is a leading gene-editing company focused on the development of transformative gene-based medicines for serious diseases using its proprietary CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing platform.
The Dive Awards recognize the industry’s top disruptors and innovators. BioPharma Dive solicited suggestions for title nominees from its 22,000 readers. With the help of a panel of industry insiders, winners were chosen by the editors of BioPharma Dive based on resonance and industry impact.