University of Pennsylvania is working on a treatment for solid tumours and its only known investor is HLB Pharmaceutical.
Verismo Therapeutics, a US-based developer of therapies for solid tumours spun out of University of Pennsylvania, has raised $16m in equity financing, according to a securities document.
Investors in the round could not be ascertained and the filing only lists chief executive and co-founder Bryan Kim.
Founded in 2020, Verismo is working on CAR T cell treatments for solid tumours. It has dubbed its approach KIR-CAR and says its technology can maintain T cell activity even in harsh solid tumour microenvironments.
Its preclinical pipeline includes assets aimed at pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer and mesothelioma – which is caused by inhaled asbestos and affects the lungs, heart or abdomen.
The spinout’s co-founders were part of the team that previously developed Kymriah, sold by pharmaceutical firm Novartis and the first CAR T cell therapy to be approved in the US.
Drug manufacturer HLB Pharmaceutical invested $10m in Verismo in March 2021 in return for a 30% stake, which it said made it Verismo’s largest shareholder. It is unclear whether the $10m was included in the $16m now disclosed by Verismo.
