Caribou Biosciences Announces $25 Million Equity Investment from Pfizer

-- Pfizer purchases $25 million of Caribou common shares --

-- Sriram Krishnaswami, PhD, vice president and development head, multiple myeloma, Pfizer Global Product Development, has joined Caribou’s Scientific Advisory Board --

BERKELEY, Calif., July 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Caribou Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRBU), a leading clinical-stage CRISPR genome-editing biopharmaceutical company, today announced that Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) has made a $25 million equity investment in the company. Pfizer purchased 4,690,431 of Caribou common shares at a price of $5.33 per share, pursuant to the terms of a Securities Purchase Agreement dated June 29, 2023. The purchase by Pfizer closed on June 30, 2023. In conjunction with the investment, Sriram Krishnaswami, PhD, has joined Caribou’s Scientific Advisory Board.

“We believe Pfizer’s investment in Caribou highlights the potential of our clinical programs and we are excited to establish this partnership with one of the world’s premier biopharmaceutical companies,” said Rachel Haurwitz, PhD, Caribou’s president and chief executive officer. “We are actively advancing our allogeneic CAR-T cell therapy pipeline and look forward to providing updates from all of our programs over the next six months, including 6-month dose escalation data from our ANTLER Phase 1 clinical trial for CB-010, dose escalation updates on our CaMMouflage Phase 1 clinical trial for CB-011, and submission of an investigational new drug application for CB-012.”

“We are encouraged by Caribou’s chRDNA genome-editing technology and the potential of allogeneic cell therapies as a promising off-the-shelf approach to cancer treatment,” said Dr. Krishnaswami. “Pfizer has a long history of supporting early, innovative science in the biotech ecosystem, and we look forward to supporting Caribou as they continue to advance their ANTLER Phase 1 trial for CB-010, as well as their clinical program for CB-011, an allogeneic anti-BCMA cell therapy for multiple myeloma.”

Caribou will use the proceeds of this investment to advance CB-011, an immune cloaked allogeneic CAR-T cell therapy currently being evaluated in the CaMMouflage Phase 1 clinical trial in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (r/r MM). Caribou will maintain full ownership and control of its pipeline of allogeneic CAR-T and CAR-NK cell therapies.

The securities sold in this financing were made in a transaction not involving a public offering and have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an effective registration statement or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the common shares, nor shall there be any sale of the common shares in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.