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DURHAM, North Carolina, April 1, 2019 – Precision BioSciences (Nasdaq: DTIL) (“Precision”), a genome editing company dedicated to improving life (DTIL) through its proprietary ARCUS genome editing platform, today announced the closing of its initial public offering of 9,085,000 shares of common stock, which includes the full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase 1,185,000 additional shares of common stock, at a public offering price of $16.00 per share. The total gross proceeds to Precision were approximately $145.4 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and expenses payable by Precision. All of the shares were sold by Precision. The shares commenced trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “DTIL” on Thursday, March 28, 2019.

J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Jefferies and Barclays acted as joint book-running managers for the offering.

A registration statement relating to the securities sold in this offering was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 27, 2019. The offering was made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the final prospectus relating to this offering may be obtained by contacting: J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Attention: Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, telephone: (866) 803-9204 or email: prospectus-eq_fi@jpmchase.com; Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, New York 10282, by telephone: (866) 471-2526, facsimile: (212) 902-9316, or email: prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com; Jefferies LLC, Attention: Equity Syndicate Prospectus Department, 520 Madison Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10022, by telephone:  (877) 547-6340 or email: Prospectus_Department@jefferies.com; or Barclays Capital Inc., c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, or by telephone: (800) 603-5847.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of, these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

About Precision BioSciences

Precision BioSciences is dedicated to improving life (DTIL) through its proprietary genome editing platform, “ARCUS.” Precision leverages ARCUS in the development of its product candidates, which are designed to treat human diseases and create healthy and sustainable food and agriculture solutions. Precision is actively developing product candidates in three innovative areas: allogeneic CAR T immunotherapy, in vivo gene correction, and food. For additional information, please visit www.precisionbiosciences.com

Investor Contact:
Jason Wong
Blueprint Life Science Group
Tel. (415) 375-3340 Ext. 4
jwong@bplifescience.com

Media Contact:
Susan Heins
Tel. (864) 346-8336
media@precisionbiosciences.com

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA – February 25, 2019 – Elo Life Systems Inc. announced today a collaboration with Avoca LLC, a subsidiary of the specialty chemicals company Ashland, that is focused on improving the production of Clary Sage plants and a related compound called Sclareol.

Sclareol is a key component used by the fragrance industry to manufacture a sustainable substitute for a waxy substance secreted by a small percentage of sperm whales called ambergris. Avoca is one of the world’s primary manufacturers and suppliers of Sclareol extracted from Clary Sage.

“Elo’s business model is designed to enable the seamless integration of our innovative agricultural technologies with Avoca’s ability to rapidly translate them into a product,” said Elo Life Systems CEO Fayaz Khazi, PhD. “With such collaborative approaches, our technologies are positioned to deliver improved and sustainable products to the customer through our partners.”

“Avoca is pleased to utilize Elo’s technology to improve the production of Sclareol in Clary Sage plants,” said Avoca LLC President David Peele, PhD. “The future of our industry depends on utilizing new technologies to increase yields and improve operating efficiencies. This collaboration further strengthens Ashland’s bounty of sustainability solutions.”

About Elo Life Systems 

Elo Life Systems is a wholly owned subsidiary of Precision BioSciences Inc. Our mission is to create novel products that enhance the nutrition and diversity of global food supply. To address agricultural needs, Elo partners with stakeholders in the food systems value chain, to bridge gaps and meet needs across agricultural productivity, nutritional demand, food security and human wellness. To learn more about Elo and Precision Biosciences please visit  www.elolife.ag and www.precisionbiosciences.com

About Ashland

Ashland Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ASH) is a premier global specialty chemicals company serving customers in a wide range of consumer and industrial markets, including adhesives, architectural coatings, automotive, construction, energy, food and beverage, nutraceuticals, personal care and pharmaceutical. At Ashland, we are approximately 6,000 passionate, tenacious solvers – from renowned scientists and research chemists to talented engineers and plant operators – who thrive on developing practical, innovative and elegant solutions to complex problems for customers in more than 100 countries. Visit www.ashland.com to learn more.

Contact Elo Life Systems

Media Relations Elo:
Adam Fisher
+1 919 314 5512
afisher@elolife.ag

Precision BioSciences is pleased to be part of this important feature story from Science Magazine:

Forgotten No More – A long-overlooked scourge of millions, hepatitis B is in the crosshairs at last

You can read more about the collaboration between Gilead and Precision to develop therapies against hepatitis B virus using ARCUS genome editing here.

Heather King
+1 919-314-5512
heather.king@precisionbiosciences.com

FOSTER CITY, Calif. and DURHAM, NC, Sept 12, 2018 – Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) and Precision BioSciences announced today that the companies have entered into a strategic collaboration to develop therapies targeting the in vivo elimination of hepatitis B virus (HBV) with Precision’s proprietary genome editing platform, ARCUS.

An estimated 257 million people are living with HBV infection around the world. Current HBV treatments suppress HBV viral replication but do not completely clear the virus. The presence of covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) enables HBV replication if treatment is stopped. Preliminary studies at Gilead using ARCUS nucleases to target HBV cccDNA in vitro have demonstrated significant activity against cccDNA and integrated HBV DNA in human hepatocytes.

“Gilead is committed to developing innovative therapies to achieve functional cure for patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection,” said John McHutchison, MD, Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Research and Development at Gilead. “We are excited about the potential of genome editing and Precision’s ARCUS technology, which has demonstrated promising in vitro activity. We look forward to exploring this technology as an important component of our HBV cure research efforts.”

Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, Precision will be primarily responsible for the development, formulation, and preclinical evaluation of the investigational nucleases, and Gilead will be responsible for the clinical development and commercialization of potential therapies. Gilead will fully fund the research and development. Precision is eligible to receive milestone payments of up to an aggregate of $445 million and tiered royalties that go up to the mid-teens for commercial products developed through the collaboration.

Precision Chief Scientific Officer Derek Jantz commented, “Gilead’s cure-based approach to hepatitis B is comprehensive and exciting. Precision is pleased that initial studies with our ARCUS platform have established an important role for genome editing in their HBV program. This is an excellent application for our technology, which has made notable progress toward therapeutic in vivo editing in relevant models over the last year.”

About Precision BioSciences

Precision BioSciences is dedicated to improving life. Our mission is to cure genetic disease, overcome cancer, and feed the planet. We are striving to achieve this goal with ARCUS, our therapeutic-grade, naturally-derived genome editing system that combines both specificity and efficacy to help overcome life’s greatest genetic challenges. For additional information, please visit www.precisionbiosciences.com

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a research-based biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes innovative medicines in areas of unmet medical need. The company strives to transform and simplify care for people with life-threatening illnesses around the world. Gilead has operations in more than 35 countries worldwide, with headquarters in Foster City, California.

Gilead Forward-Looking Statement

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, including the risk that the parties may not realize the potential benefits of this collaboration. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those referred to in the forward-looking statements. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These and other risks are described in detail in Gilead’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2018, as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to Gilead, and Gilead assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.

Contact

Sung Lee, Gilead Investors
650-524-7792

Amy Flood, Gilead Media
650-522-5643

Heather King, Precision Media
919-314-5512 x1332

Durham, NC July 09, 2018 – The University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine announced today that researchers from Jim Wilson’s Gene Therapy Program have found that using Precision’s ARCUS genome editing platform to inactivate PCSK9 in the liver effectively and sustainably reduces LDL cholesterol levels in non-human primates. This work was published today in Nature Biotechnology (Meganuclease targeting of PCSK9 in macaque liver leads to stable reduction in serum cholesterol).

The University of Pennsylvania’s press release is copied below and also available here.

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Genome Editing Reduces Cholesterol in Large Animal Model, Laying the Groundwork for In-Human Trials 
Penn study finds genome editing in non-human primates highlights opportunities and challenges for future clinical trials

(Phildelphia) – Using genome editing to inactivate a protein called PCSK9 effectively reduces cholesterol levels in rhesus macaques, a species of monkey, according to researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. This is the first demonstration of a clinically relevant reduction of gene expression in a large animal model using genome editing. The team published their study this week in Nature Biotechnology, in whichthey describe a possible new approach for treating heart disease patients who do not tolerate PCSK9 inhibitors—drugs that are commonly used to combat high cholesterol.

Normally, the PCSK9 protein prevents receptors from removing excess LDL (“bad” cholesterol) in the liver. In the clinic, it has also been shown that inhibiting PCSK9 can lower LDL in humans. However, some patients with hypercholesterolemia—an extreme form of cardiovascular disease—do not tolerate these drugs. This study suggests that genome editing shows promise as a therapeutic approach for these patients.

“Most often these patients are treated with repeated injections of an antibody to PCSK9,” said first author Lili Wang, PhD, a research associate professor in Medicine. “But, our study shows that with successful genome editing, patients who cannot tolerate inhibitor drugs might no longer need this type of repeat treatment.”

Coauthors at Precision BioSciences, a biotech firm in Durham, NC, engineered an enzyme called a meganuclease to specifically recognize and inactivate the PCSK9 gene. In this study, the scientists employed an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector carrying the meganuclease to disrupt the PCSK9 gene in the primates’ liver.

In animals treated with middle- and high-dose AAV vectors, PCSK9 levels reduced by 45 to 84 percent and LDL levels reduced by 30 to 60 percent, both clinically relevant and stable reductions. Molecular analyses of biopsied liver tissue also demonstrated that genome editing induced mutations in 40 to 65 percent of the PCSK9 genes. Importantly, the AAV vector doses used in this study have been safely and effectively used in clinical trials of AAV gene replacement therapy for patients with hemophilia.

“Our initial work with several delivery and editing approaches produced the most impressive data in non-human primates when we paired AAV for delivery with the engineered meganuclease for editing,” said senior author James M. Wilson, MD, PhD, a professor of Medicine and Pediatrics and director of the Gene Therapy Program at Penn. “We leveraged our 30-plus years of experience in gene therapy to progress the translational science of in vivo genome editing, and in doing so, reinforced the importance of early studies in nonhuman primates to assess safety and efficacy.”

Future studies will focus on ways to mitigate immune toxicity and the occurrence of editing in targets outside of the desired site within the PCSK9 gene. In addition to patients with hypercholesterolemia, these data should also inform potential use of this approach for a broad spectrum of liver metabolic diseases caused by mutations in other genes.

Other Penn authors include Jeff Smith, Janel Lape, Victor V. Bartsevich, along with Derek Jantz from Precision Biosciences. Camilo Breton, Peter Clark, Jia Zhang, Lei Ying, Yan Che, Peter Bell, Roberto Calcedo, Elizabeth L. Buza, Alexei Saveliev, Zhenning He, John White, and Mingyao Li are also coauthors.

The study was supported by Penn Medicine and Precision Biosciences.

—

About Precision BioSciences
Precision BioSciences is dedicated to improving life. Our mission is to cure genetic disease, overcome cancer, and feed the planet. We are striving to achieve this goal with ARCUS, our therapeutic-grade, naturally-derived genome editing system that combines both specificity and efficacy to help overcome life’s greatest genetic challenges.

Contact Precision BioSciences

Heather King
+1 919-314-5512
heather.king@precisionbiosciences.com

DURHAM, North Carolina, USA, June 26 2018 –Precision BioSciences today announced the closing of an oversubscribed $110M Series B financing to further product development efforts based on its ARCUS® genome editing platform. The financing was led by ArrowMark Partners and was joined by new investors Franklin Templeton Investments, Cowen Healthcare Investments, Brace Pharma Capital, Pontifax AgTech, OCV Partners, Adage Capital Management, Cormorant Asset Management, Gilead Sciences, Vivo Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, Ridgeback Capital, Agent Capital, and entities affiliated with Leerink Partners. Existing investors venBio, F-Prime, RA Capital Management, Amgen Ventures, Osage University Partners, DUMAC, and the Longevity Fund also participated in the financing.

Precision intends to expand applications of its ARCUS genome editing platform in the areas of immuno-oncology, genetic disease, and food on its way to building a fully integrated biotechnology company. ARCUS is Precision’s proprietary, homing endonuclease-derived genome editing platform that leverages the small size and high specificity of a natural genome editing system. During 2018, Precision plans to utilize the proceeds from this financing to accelerate and expand its product portfolio. Specifically, Precision targets taking its lead, off-the-shelf CAR-T product into the clinic while advancing both its lead in vivo gene therapy program into IND-enabling studies and its flagship food program into field trials.

“We are thrilled to have such strong support from these leading healthcare investors who share in our vision for the future of human health through innovations in food and medicine,” said Matt Kane, CEO of Precision. “This financing provides us with a strong foundation from which we can advance our translational genome editing programs in multiple sectors.”

In conjunction with the Series B financing, Tony Yao of ArrowMark Partners has joined the Precision Board of Directors alongside existing directors Matt Kane, Derek Jantz, CSO of Precision, and Robert Adelman of venBio.

“We believe that Precision’s core gene editing technology represents a new way to alter the genome, and we are utilizing this technology to address several areas of great unmet need,” said Tony Yao, M.D., Ph.D. “I look forward to working with the team as we advance our programs.”

About Precision BioSciences

Precision BioSciences is dedicated to improving life. Our mission is to cure genetic disease, overcome cancer, and feed the planet. We are striving to achieve this goal with ARCUS, our therapeutic-grade, naturally-derived genome editing system that combines both specificity and efficacy to help overcome life’s greatest genetic challenges. For additional information, please visit www.precisionbiosciences.com

Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan, LLP acted as outside counsel to Precision in connection with the financing.

Contact Precision BioSciences

Heather King
+1 919-314-5512
heather.king@precisionbiosciences.com

DURHAM, North Carolina, USA, June 20 2018 – Precision BioSciences CSO Derek Jantz will present and join a panel discussion during the DIA (Drug Information Association) 2018 conference session #285, Gene Therapy: Advances in Translating Technology. Dr. Jantz will share Precision’s approach to advancing genome editing into the clinic and his perspectives from over 20 years of designing and developing gene editing tools for therapeutic applications. The panel will be chaired by Peter Marks, Director of CBER at FDA, and will also include Terence Flotte, Dean of the School of Medicine at University of Massachusetts; David Davidson, CMO at bluebird bio; and Michael Havert, CMC reviewer at the FDA. This session will address the existing regulatory framework as well as recent advances in the field of gene therapy.

About Precision BioSciences
Precision BioSciences is dedicated to improving life.  Our mission is to cure genetic disease, overcome cancer, and feed the planet. We are striving to achieve this goal with ARCUS, our therapeutic-grade, naturally-derived genome editing system that combines both specificity and efficacy to help overcome life’s greatest genetic challenges. For additional information, please visit www.precisionbiosciences.com

About DIA
DIA (founded as the Drug Information Association) is a global association that mobilizes life science professionals from across all areas of expertise to engage with patients, peers and thought leaders in a neutral environment on the issues of today and the possibilities for tomorrow. As a member-driven, volunteer organization, professionals from 80 countries have affected healthcare outcomes, by engaging with DIA through an unparalleled network, educational offerings, and professional development opportunities.

Contact Precision BioSciences

Heather King
+1 919-314-5512
heather.king@precisionbiosciences.com

DURHAM, North Carolina, USA, May 14 2018 – Precision BioSciences, the ARCUS genome editing company with novel product development programs in gene therapy, cancer immunotherapy and non-GMO food, will give three presentations at the upcoming ASGCT 21st Annual Meeting held in Chicago, Illinois, May 16-19, 2018.

Precision’s co-founder and CSO, Derek Jantz, will attend the conference along with a group of Precision scientists. He notes,

“The Precision team is looking forward to participating in the research dialogue at ASGCT this year. We are particularly eager to share our experiences towards developing an in vivo gene editing solution, including results of extensive NHP testing. We will also present new data from our gene-edited allogeneic T cell platform, including manufacturing results for our lead CAR T program.”

Precision BioSciences presentations at ASGCT include:

1. Development and Optimization of a PCSK9-Specific Meganuclease That Mediates Long-Term LDL Reduction in Non-Human Primates (#658; follows content of #657).
Oral Session Title: Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Diseases
Date and Time: Friday, May 18, 2018, 4:00 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. CDT
Location: International Ballroom South

2. Development of a Clinical-Grade Meganuclease for Allogeneic CAR T Cell Production (#784).
Poster Session Title: Cell Therapies III
Session Date and Time: Friday, May 18, 2018, 5:45 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. CDT
Location: Stevens Salon C & D

3. A P23H RHO-Specific Meganuclease Rescues Photoreceptor Morphology and Function in Mouse Models of Retinitis Pigmentosa (#565).
Poster Session Title: Neurologic Diseases II
Session Date and Time: Thursday, May 17, 2018, 5:15 p.m. – 7:15 p.m. CDT
Location: Stevens Salon C & D

About Precision BioSciences

Precision BioSciences is a biotechnology company dedicated to improving life. Our mission is to cure genetic disease, overcome cancer, and feed the planet through innovative scientific solutions and with a focus on genome editing. ARCUS®, Precision’s unique, therapeutic-grade genome editing system combines the specificity and efficacy required to translate the promise of gene editing into life changing gene therapies, cell therapies, and agricultural products.

About The American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy

ASGCT is the primary membership organization for scientists, physicians, professionals, and patient advocates involved in gene and cell therapy. The Society’s mission is to advance knowledge, awareness and education leading to discovery and clinical application of gene and cell therapies to alleviate disease. ASGCT’s vision is to serve as a catalyst to transform medicine by advancing gene and cell therapies to benefit patients and society.

Contact Precision BioSciences

Heather King
+1 919-314-5512
heather.king@precisionbiosciences.com