Editas goes public amid CRISPR patent battle

A biotechnology company that licenses a patent related to the gene-editing technology CRISPR/Cas9 has raised more than $94 million in its initial share offering.

The sale comes as two professors, Jennifer Doudna of the University of California and Feng Zhang of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, are locked in a dispute over the rights to the technology.

Boston-based Editas licenses Zhang’s patent. But the rights awarded to Zhang and the Broad Institute are being challenged by Doudna.

Doudna has disputed Zhang’s ownership of the patents and says she invented the technology first.

Last month, LSIPR reported that the US Patent and Trademark Office had initiated an interference proceeding in order to establish the rightful owner of the technology.

Editas made an initial public offering in January and sold 5.9 million shares totalling $94.4 million, according to BioNews.

The company plans to use the CRISPR technology to treat a form of blindness.