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Organization and Operations
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Organization and Operations

1. Organization and Operations

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (“CRISPR” or the “Company”) was incorporated on October 31, 2013 in Basel, Switzerland. The Company was established to translate CRISPR/Cas9, a genome editing technology, into transformative gene-based medicines for the treatment of serious human diseases. The foundational intellectual property underlying the Company’s operations was licensed to the Company in April 2014. The Company devotes substantially all of its efforts to product research and development activities, initial market development and raising capital. The Company’s principal offices are in Zug, Switzerland and operations are in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The Company is subject to risks common to companies in the biotechnology industry, including but not limited to, risks of failure of preclinical studies and clinical trials, the need to obtain marketing approval for any drug product candidate that it may identify and develop, the need to successfully commercialize and gain market acceptance of its product candidates, dependence on key personnel, protection of proprietary technology, compliance with government regulations, development by competitors of technological innovations and ability to transition from pilot-scale manufacturing to large-scale production of products.

The Company had an accumulated deficit of $195.9 million as of December 31, 2021 and has financed its operations to date from a series of preferred shares and convertible loan issuances, proceeds obtained from its initial public offering, subsequent public offerings of its common shares, as well as upfront fees and milestones received under its collaboration and joint venture arrangements. The Company will require substantial additional capital to fund its research and development and ongoing operating expenses.

As of December 31, 2021, the Company had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $2,379.1 million. While the Company was in a net income position in the current and certain previous years due to upfronts associated with the Company's collaborations with Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated and certain of its subsidiaries, or Vertex, the Company has a history of recurring losses and expects to continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future. The Company expects its cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund current planned operations for at least the next twenty-four months.

The full extent of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Company’s business, operations and financial results will depend on numerous evolving factors that we may not be able to accurately predict. See Item 1A: "Risk Factors" section set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional details. At this stage, the impact on the Company’s results has not been significant.