First lead candidate to address a solid tumor
indication with significant unmet medical need
Supportive pre-clinical proof of concept data
reported at SITC 2023 that demonstrated feasibility, tolerability
and early efficacy of in vivo CAR-M therapy utilizing mRNA/LNPs in
solid tumors
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 14,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Carisma Therapeutics Inc.
(Nasdaq: CARM) ("Carisma" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing
innovative immunotherapies, today announced the nomination of its
first lead candidate under the collaboration with Moderna, Inc.
(Nasdaq: MRNA). This first lead candidate will target an antigen
present on a solid tumor with significant unmet medical need. This
strategic collaboration brings together Carisma's chimeric antigen
receptor macrophage (CAR-M) platform with Moderna's messenger RNA
(mRNA) and lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technologies to generate and
develop in vivo CAR-M therapeutics for oncology.
"Following the compelling pre-clinical proof of concept data
shared at SITC 2023, we believe in vivo CAR-M therapeutics
that utilize Moderna's mRNA/LNPs have the potential to benefit
patients with a broad variety of cancers," stated Michael Klichinsky, PharmD, PhD, Co-Founder and
Chief Scientific Officer at Carisma. "The delivery of this first
candidate demonstrates our ability to create novel in vivo
CAR therapies that can be advanced toward the clinic. We are proud
of the significant contributions made by both of the scientific
teams at Carisma and Moderna towards this exciting program. We look
forward to completing IND-enabling studies with the lead candidate
and are excited about the prospect of bringing this therapy forward
for patients with advanced solid tumors together with Moderna."
Lin Guey, PhD, Chief Scientific
Officer of Therapeutics Research Ventures and Biotherapeutics at
Moderna, stated, "We are excited with the progress we've made to
advance in vivo cell therapy (CAR-M) in collaboration with
Carisma. Combining Carisma's deep expertise in myeloid cell biology
with our mRNA/LNP platform has allowed us to quickly advance the
first lead candidate and we look forward to furthering its
development, along with our continued collaboration with Carisma to
develop novel therapies to treat patients."
Pre-clinical proof of concept data were recently presented at
SITC 2023, demonstrating the feasibility, efficacy, and
tolerability of the in vivo CAR-M platform that utilizes
Moderna's optimized mRNA encapsulated in LNPs and is designed to
redirect endogenous myeloid cells to exert targeted anti-tumor
activity. The highlighted data demonstrated that Carisma's CAR-M
therapy can be directly produced in vivo, or within the
body, and can successfully redirect endogenous myeloid cells
against tumor-associated antigens using Moderna' mRNA/LNPs. This
novel approach to cancer immunotherapy offers an off-the-shelf
solution that has the potential to increase access to CAR-based
therapies and to be the basis of any CAR-M programs discovered or
developed under the Carisma and Moderna collaboration.
About Carisma
Carisma Therapeutics Inc. is a clinical stage
biopharmaceutical company focused on utilizing our proprietary
macrophage and monocyte cell engineering platform to develop
transformative immunotherapies to treat cancer and other serious
diseases. We have created a comprehensive, differentiated
proprietary cell therapy platform focused on engineered macrophages
and monocytes, cells that play a crucial role in both the innate
and adaptive immune response. Carisma is headquartered
in Philadelphia, PA. For more information, please
visit www.carismatx.com.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release about future expectations,
plans and prospects, as well as any other statements regarding
matters that are not historical facts, may constitute
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of The Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include,
but are not limited to, statements relating to Carisma's business,
strategy, future operations, cash runway, the advancement of
Carisma's product candidates and product pipeline, and pre-clinical
and clinical development of Carisma's product candidates, including
expectations regarding timing of initiation and results of
pre-clinical and clinical trials. The words "anticipate,"
"believe," "contemplate," "continue," "could," "estimate,"
"expect," "goals," "intend," "may," "might," "outlook," "plan,"
"project," "potential," "predict," "target," "possible," "will,"
"would," "could," "should," and similar expressions are intended to
identify forward-looking statements, although not all
forward-looking statements contain these identifying words.
Any forward-looking statements are based on management's current
expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially and adversely from those set forth in, or implied by,
such forward-looking statements. For a discussion of these risks
and uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could
cause Carisma's actual results to differ from those contained in
the forward-looking statements, see the "Risk Factors" set forth in
the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on November 9, 2023, as well as discussions of
potential risks, uncertainties, and other important factors in
Carisma's other recent filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Any forward-looking statements that are made in this
press release speak as of the date of this press release. Carisma
undertakes no obligation to revise the forward-looking statements
or to update them to reflect events or circumstances occurring
after the date of this press release, whether as a result of new
information, future developments or otherwise, except as required
by the federal securities laws.
Contacts
Investors:
Shveta Dighe
Head of Investor Relations
investors@carismatx.com
Media:
Julia Stern
(763) 350-5223
jstern@realchemistry.com
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SOURCE Carisma Therapeutics Inc.