Intellia Therapeutics, a leading gene-editing company focused on the development of curative medicines using CRISPR/Cas9 technology, has closed a Series B investment round with $70 million in additional financing led by OrbiMed HealthCare Fund Management. Additional investors included Fidelity Management and Research Company, Janus Capital Management, Foresite Capital, Sectoral Asset Management, EcoR1 Capital and other leading mutual fund and healthcare investors. Founding investor Atlas Venture and Novartis also participated in the financing. The company intends to use the proceeds to accelerate the development of its pipeline, expand its platforms for gene editing and delivery, as well as to continue to strengthen its leading intellectual property portfolio.

'Intellia is delighted to welcome this group of specialist, long term, healthcare investors to our existing syndicate. We feel this financing reflects the strong support for our business model and positions us to rapidly advance our company and strategy,' said Nessan Bermingham, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Intellia Therapeutics. 'Our mission is to accelerate the development of potentially curative proprietary products for unmet medical needs. We are committed to extending our platforms, expanding strategic alliances to enable us to get products to patients, and hiring the best talent in the industry.'

In conjunction with the new financing, Carl L. Gordon, Ph.D., a founding Partner and Co-Head of Global Private Equity at OrbiMed, will join the Intellia Board of Directors.

'OrbiMed is excited to lead this financing of Intellia, one of the leading companies developing gene-editing technology for human therapeutic use,' said Carl L. Gordon, Ph.D., of OrbiMed. 'CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing has the potential to bring treatments to patients with no viable options.'

Intellia's Strategy and Pipeline

Intellia is building a fully integrated, product-driven biotechnology company. The company is focused on the development of proprietary human therapeutics using the CRISPR/Cas9 technology to create a potential new drug class with broad in vivo and ex vivo applications. Intellia's strategy with CRISPR/Cas9 is to bring cures to patients where the therapeutic needs are greatest today.

'CRISPR/Cas9 technology has potential to transform medicine by addressing previously untreatable genetic targets and serving as the basis for new and better therapies,' said John Leonard, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Intellia Therapeutics. 'This novel technology could potentially eliminate many severely disabling and life-threatening diseases for patients.'

Leerink Partners LLC acted as the exclusive placement agent for the financing.

About Intellia Therapeutics

Intellia Therapeutics is a leading gene-editing company focused on the development of proprietary products utilizing the recently discovered CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Intellia intends to advance its pipeline and potentially develop a new drug class by leveraging its leading scientific and clinical development expertise and its exclusive access to one of the most comprehensive intellectual property platforms available. In 2014, Intellia was named as one of the top 10 biotech start-ups by Nature Biotechnology.

Learn more about Intellia Therapeutics and CRISPR/Cas9 at intelliatx.com; Follow us on Twitter @intelliatweets.