Carisma Therapeutics, a US-based cancer immunotherapy spinout of University of Pennsylvania, grew its series B round to $59m yesterday following a $12m extension backed by commercialisation firm IP Group.
Penn Medicine, which consists of the institution’s Perelman School of Medicine and medical care provider University of Pennsylvania Health System, also backed the second tranche, as did venture capital firm 4Bio Capital.
Carisma picked up an initial $47m in series B funding in January 2021 that also featured IP Group and was led by investment fund Symbiosis II.
The first tranche also attracted pharmaceutical companies Livzon Pharmaceutical, Merck & Co and AbbVie, the latter two investing through MRL Ventures Fund and AbbVie Ventures respectively.
Solasta Ventures, HealthCap, Wellington Partners, TPG Biotech and Agent Capital completed the January line-up.
Founded in 2016, Carisma is working on cancer immunotherapies aimed at cells called macrophages to treat metastatic solid tumours. The additional series B capital follows the spinout launching phase 1 trials for its lead candidate.
The money will allow Carisma to further develop its platform, expand its pipeline and look into potential applications of its approach in other diseases.
Steven Kelly, president and chief executive of Carisma Therapeutics, said: “We are pleased to receive additional support from one of our founding investors, IP Group, as well as Penn Medicine, and new participant 4Bio Capital, a fund committed to solely investing in advanced therapies.
“With our lead candidate, CT-0508, now officially in phase 1 clinical trials, this additional funding puts Carisma in an even stronger position in the field of immunotherapy as we advance our mission of evaluating the potential of engineered macrophages.”
Carisma has now obtained approximately $121m in funding altogether, it said. It closed a $59m series A round in 2018 backed by IP Group, Penn Medicine, MRL Ventures Fund, AbbVie Ventures, HealthCap, Grazia Equity, Wellington Partners and TPG Biotech.
AbbVie Ventures and HealthCap had co-led a round of undisclosed size in 2017 with participation from IP Group and Grazia Equity.

US-based cancer immunotherapy developer Carisma Therapeutics increased a series B round featuring Penn Medicine, which includes medical care provider University of Pennsylvania Health System, to $59m yesterday.

Penn Medicine, commercialisation firm IP Group and venture capital firm 4Bio Capital added $12m to the $47m the company raised in a tranche in January this year that included pharmaceutical firms Livzon Pharmaceutical, Merck & Co and AbbVie.

The first close was led by investment fund Symbiosis II and also featured IP Group, Solasta Ventures, HealthCap, Wellington Partners, TPG Biotech and Agent Capital, while Merck and AbbVie invested through MRL Ventures Fund and AbbVie Ventures respectively.

Founded in 2016, Carisma is working on cancer immunotherapies aimed at cells called macrophages in order to treat metastatic solid tumours. The additional series B capital comes after the company launched phase 1 trials for its lead candidate.

The funding will allow Carisma to further develop its platform, expand its pipeline and look into potential applications of its approach in other diseases.

Steven Kelly, Carisma’s president and CEO, said: “We are pleased to receive additional support from one of our founding investors, IP Group, as well as Penn Medicine, and new participant 4Bio Capital, a fund committed to solely investing in advanced therapies.

“With our lead candidate, CT-0508, now officially in phase 1 clinical trials, this additional funding puts Carisma in an even stronger position in the field of immunotherapy as we advance our mission of evaluating the potential of engineered macrophages.”

Carisma has now secured more than $120m in funding altogether, it said. It closed a $59m series A round in 2018 backed by Penn Medicine, MRL Ventures Fund, AbbVie Ventures, IP Group, HealthCap, Grazia Equity, Wellington Partners and TPG Biotech.

AbbVie Ventures and HealthCap had co-led a round of undisclosed size for the company in 2017, with participation from IP Group and Grazia Equity.

The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Ventures.