Cullinan rebrands with $280M private offering, expands beyond cancer

Cullinan Oncology Inc. is rebranding as it expands into autoimmune diseases after raising $280 million in a private stock offering.

The Cambridge company will now be known as Cullinan Therapeutics Inc. The change comes as Cullinan (Nasdaq: CGEM) said on Tuesday it plans to continue development of its drug, CLN-978, in autoimmune diseases rather than oncology. The drug was being evaluated in a Phase 1 trial in patients with B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The company’s stock was up about 8% at 1 p.m. on Tuesday with shares priced at almost $18 each. Cullinan’s market cap was around $769 million.

Cullinan said it plans to submit an investigational new drug application to study CLN-978 in patients with the most common type of lupus in the third quarter of 2024. 

In the meantime, Cullinan has discontinued enrollment in its study with B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients. Despite this halt, Cullinan noted that three patients treated in a Phase 1 dose escalation trial showed that CLN-978 was clinically active at the initial starting dose.

The company said its name change “reflects the company’s transformation as it pursues new indications for autoimmune diseases and continues to advance its clinical-stage oncology pipeline.” Cullinan will continue to trade under the ticker “CGEM.”

“Today’s announcements represent a major step forward for Cullinan Therapeutics. Our ethos is to pursue the best science for patients by matching the right target with the right modality, and we believe that CLN-978 could offer a convenient modality and potentially disease-modifying treatment for patients with autoimmune diseases where current treatments often only address symptoms, rather than the underlying disease itself,” CEO Nadim Ahmed said in a statement.

In parallel, Cullinan also announced a private placement of about $274 million of shares of its common stock at $19.00 per share and $6.0 million of pre-funded warrants to purchase shares of its common stock.

Cullinan said new and existing investors participated in the private offering, including Adage Capital Partners LP, Avidity Partners, Blue Owl Healthcare Opportunities and Boxer Capital.

The company expects the proceeds, combined with its cash, cash equivalents, short term investments and interest receivable, will fund operations into 2028.