CAR-T therapy has demonstrated promising results in a range of patients from young and old. This type of immunotherapy teaches T cells to recognize and destroy cancer. In some patients, this can lead to the total elimination of the cancer. In others, there is a significant improvement of the disease. 2017 was the first year that the U.S. FDA approved a CAR-T therapy, approving Kymriah in August 2017 and Yescarta in October 2017. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has also recommended marketing authorizations for these two CAR-T cell therapies. [Read more…]

CAR-T companies are on the rise, supported by growing investment flowing into CAR-T research, landmark approvals of CAR-T cell therapies by the U.S. FDA (Kymriah and Yescarta), and major acquisitions within the CAR-T space. Most notably, Celgene snagged Juno Therapeutics for a shocking $9 billion in January 2018 and Gilead acquired Kite Pharma for an astounding $11.9 billion in August 2017. Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T) is an approach that is now being explored as an alternative to conventional treatments for several forms of cancer. [Read more…]

CAR-T funding is on the rise. At first the trend was subtle, but the tide swelled as CAR-T therapies like Kymriah and Yescarta reached the marketplace and created a CAR-T funding craze. CAR-T start-ups have been richly funded by investors eager to get into this trending area of regenerative medicine. IPO raises have also been aggressive.

Following IPOs by CAR-T players Kite Pharma, Bellicum, Juno and Cellectis totaling over $750 million, CAR-T developer Autolus has now announced a $150 million IPO. This brings the total value of recent CAR-T IPO’s to nearly $1 billion.

CAR-T Financing Rounds

In March 7, 2018, JW Therapeutics announced it had closed a $90 million Series A financing round. JW Therapeutics is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company founded by Juno Therapeutics and WuXi AppTec Group in 2016 to focus on leading cell-based therapy technologies.  [Read more…]