PHILADELPHIA, PA — Carisma Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company specializing in engineered macrophage-based therapies, has announced the nomination of its first lead candidate under a strategic collaboration with Moderna Inc. The candidate targets an antigen present on solid tumors with significant unmet medical needs.
This innovative collaboration combines Carisma’s chimeric antigen receptor macrophage (CAR-M) platform with Moderna’s messenger RNA (mRNA) and lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technologies. Together, they aim to generate and develop in vivo CAR-M therapeutics to treat various cancers.
Following promising pre-clinical proof of concept data presented at SITC 2023, Michael Klichinsky, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Carisma, expressed confidence in the potential benefits of in vivo CAR-M therapeutics that utilize Moderna’s mRNA/LNPs. He lauded the joint contributions of the scientific teams at Carisma and Moderna, looking forward to completing IND-enabling studies with the lead candidate.
Lin Guey, Chief Scientific Officer of Therapeutics Research Ventures and Biotherapeutics at Moderna, also expressed enthusiasm about the progress made in advancing in vivo cell therapy (CAR-M) in collaboration with Carisma.
Pre-clinical data demonstrated the feasibility, efficacy, and tolerability of the in vivo CAR-M platform utilizing Moderna’s optimized mRNA encapsulated in LNPs. This innovative approach to cancer immunotherapy offers an off-the-shelf solution with the potential to broaden access to CAR-based therapies.
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