CARISMA Therapeutics to Present Data at The American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy 24th Annual Meeting

PHILADELPHIA, April 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CARISMA Therapeutics Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing innovative immunotherapies, announced findings from two studies accepted for virtual presentation at The American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) 24th Annual Meeting on Tuesday, May 11 – Friday, May 14. The findings mark the first time chimeric antigen receptor macrophages (CAR-Ms) have been assessed in a fully immunocompetent animal model and highlight the potential of CAR-monocytes (CAR-Mono) as an innovative and expedited immunotherapeutic pathway.

Dr. Stefano Pierini, Senior Scientist at CARISMA, will present findings from "Chimeric Antigen Receptor Macrophages (CAR-M) Induce Anti-Tumor Immunity and Synergize with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Pre-Clinical Solid Tumor Models," which established a fully immunocompetent solid tumor mouse model and evaluated the interaction of CAR-M with the tumor microenvironment and the endogenous adaptive immune system. The findings demonstrate that CAR-M therapy showed significant tumor control, increased overall survival, remodeled tumor microenvironment, and protected mice from antigen negative tumor recurrence. The results also exhibit that CAR-M synergize with T cell checkpoint inhibitors against PD1 resistant solid tumors. The data complement findings from CARISMA's foundational CAR-M platform that were published in Nature Biotechnology in March 2020.

CARISMA Scientist, Dr. Linara Gabitova, will present "Anti-HER2 CAR Monocytes Demonstrate Targeted Anti-Tumor Activity and Enable a Single Day Cell Manufacturing Process," which shows the successful development of CAR-Mono with direct anti-tumor activity and capacity to differentiate into M1-polarized CAR-M. In this study, CARISMA also established an ultra-rapid, same-day CAR-Mono manufacturing process, which holds the potential to significantly reduce the future cost of goods and manufacturing turn-around-time associated with the autologous cell therapy.

The following presentations will be available on the ASGCT Annual Meeting website for registered attendees during the dates/times indicated below:

Tuesday, May 11 at 8:00 – 10:00 am ET: Anti-HER2 CAR Monocytes Demonstrate Targeted Anti-Tumor Activity and Enable a Single Day Cell Manufacturing Process

Thursday, May 13 at 5:30 pm – 5:45 pm ET: Chimeric Antigen Receptor Macrophages (CAR-M) Induce Anti-Tumor Immunity and Synergize with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Pre-Clinical Solid Tumor Models

There will be a five-minute question and answer period with Dr. Pierini following the ten-minute presentation.

About CARISMA Therapeutics Inc.

CARISMA Therapeutics Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing a differentiated and proprietary cell therapy platform focused on engineered macrophages, cells that play a crucial role in both the innate and adaptive immune response. The first applications of the platform, developed in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania, are autologous chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-macrophages for the treatment of solid tumors. CARISMA Therapeutics is headquartered in Philadelphia, PA.

For more information, please visit www.carismatx.com

Christina Khoury-Folkens

SOURCE CARISMA Therapeutics Inc.

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