DNA maker Twist plans to go public
Twist Bioscience, the San Francisco startup that makes synthetic DNA used in genetically modified foods and pharmaceutical drugs, is the latest Bay Area biotech firm gearing up to go public.
The company, founded in 2013 and based in the city’s Mission Bay neighborhood, on Tuesday filed a form S-1 saying it plans to raise up to $86.3 million in an initial public offering.
Twist manufactures “made-to-order” DNA in its lab and sells it to pharmaceutical companies, research institutions and government health agencies. The DNA is used to test cancer treatments and detect pathogens in blood, among other things.
The company reported $10.8 million in revenue in 2017 — up 375 percent compared to $2.3 million in 2016, according to the filing. It is on track to expand further, having reported $17 million in revenue for the first nine months of
2018.
In the filing, the company acknowledges a pending lawsuit against Twist CEO Emily Leproust could be a liability. The suit, filed by Leproust’s former employer Agilent, accuses Leproust of stealing trade secrets from Agilent to start Twist.
“An adverse result could harm our business and results of operations,” the company says in the filing.
A Twist spokeswoman declined to comment. Leproust’s attorneys have previously described the lawsuit an attempt to “stifle the innovative work of a burgeoning startup company,” and said that Twist’s other co-founders were responsible for developing the critical technology that led to Twist.
Other local biotech companies that have recently gone public, or announced intentions to do so, include Hayward’s Arcus Biosciences and Emeryville’s Gritstone Oncology.