Gene-Editor Synthego Files Bankruptcy to Sell Itself to Lenders

Synthego Corp., which makes gene-editing tools for drug developers and other researchers, filed for bankruptcy with plans to sell itself to its main lender, an affiliate of private equity firm Perceptive Advisors.

Perceptive Credit Holdings III would trade as much as $85 million in debt for ownership of Synthego, unless a higher offer comes in, the company said in a proposal filed Monday in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware. Perceptive manages about $8 billion that is largely focused on health-care technology.

Synthego, based in California’s Silicon Valley, was founded in 2012 by former employees of Elon Musk’s SpaceX ...