Sesen Bio, Inc. and Carisma Therapeutics Inc. (Carisma), a privately held, clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing innovative immunotherapies, announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement to combine the companies in an all-stock transaction. The combined company will focus on the advancement of Carisma’s proprietary cell therapy platform that utilizes engineered macrophages and monocytes to potentially transform the treatment of cancer and other serious disorders. Carisma is pioneering the development of chimeric antigen receptor macrophage (CAR-M) therapies and is believed to be the only company developing CAR-M therapies with demonstrated proof of mechanism and safety data in clinical trials. The combined company is expected to operate under the name Carisma Therapeutics Inc. and trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “CARM”.
Carisma has also secured commitments from a syndicate of investors for a $30 million financing, including HealthCap, AbbVie, Wellington Partners, SymBiosis, Penn Medicine, TPG Biotech, MRL Ventures Fund, the therapeutics-focused corporate venture arm of Merck & Co., Agent Capital, Solasta, Livzon, Pictet Alternative Advisors and 4Bio, which is expected to close concurrently with the completion of the merger. With the cash expected from both companies at closing and the proceeds of the concurrent financing, the combined company is expected to have approximately $180 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. These cash resources are expected to be used to advance Carisma’s pipeline through multiple ongoing and planned key data readouts across several clinical trials and to fund operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through 2024. The merger and related financing are expected to close in the next three to four months.
Carisma’s cell and gene therapies are based on a proprietary platform technology that reprograms a patient’s macrophages and targets them against cancer cells, with the potential for broad anti-tumor immunity. This novel technology is designed to engage with the body’s immune system to treat solid tumors, which remains a persistent clinical challenge that is yet to be comprehensively achieved through CAR-T and other immunotherapy approaches.
Carisma’s CAR-M platform provides the ability to fine-tune the specific targets of the immune cells, potentially enabling multiple therapeutic applications in and beyond oncology. The first clinical application of this technology is CT-0508, a CAR-M cell therapy currently being evaluated by Carisma in a Phase 1 multi-center clinical trial with a lead target indication of advanced HER2+ solid tumors. Carisma believes this Phase 1 clinical trial marks the first time that engineered macrophages are being studied in humans. Carisma is leveraging its proprietary CAR-M platform to expand its oncology pipeline both independently and through a strategic partnership with Moderna. Additionally, Carisma is exploring the potential to develop its proprietary macrophage engineering platform for non-oncology applications such as liver fibrosis, as well as autoimmune and neurodegenerative disease indications.
“The proposed merger represents an exciting opportunity for shareholders of each company, and we believe it gets us one step closer to our goal of revolutionizing the field of immunotherapy,” said Steven Kelly, President and Chief Executive Officer of Carisma. “This transaction will provide us with financial strength to not only continue to develop our lead candidate CT-0508, but also allow us to accelerate the growth of our platform and pipeline within and outside of oncology and develop additional strong strategic partnerships beyond those we already have with Moderna and Novartis. Carisma is focused on delivering cutting-edge technology for patients in a way that has never been done before, and we look forward to advancing this important mission.”
“This transaction represents the result of a thoughtful and careful review of strategic alternatives over the past four months, during which Carisma’s clinical programs, management team, and corporate strategy stood out amongst the 42 bids reviewed,” said Dr. Thomas Cannell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sesen Bio. “Carisma is an exciting clinical-stage company with groundbreaking science and an impressive management team, which we believe makes them the optimal partner to provide value for our shareholders. Our mission at Sesen Bio has always been to save and improve the lives of patients with cancer, and we believe Carisma has the science and the unwavering patient focus required to make that mission a reality.”
Carisma has several anticipated upcoming catalysts and developmental milestones across its clinical programs over the next 18 months, including:
- Additional Phase 1 data readout of safety, manufacturing feasibility, and mechanism of action of CT-0508 with single-day dosing
- Completion of the technology transfer to Novartis for the planned clinical manufacturing of CT-0508
- Phase 1 data readout for the CT-0508 intraperitoneal trial for patients with HER2+ peritoneal cancer
- Phase 1 data readout of CT-0508 in combination with pembrolizumab for patients with HER2+ solid tumors
- Investigational New Drug (IND) Application for a new HER2 CAR engineered monocyte cell product
In addition to its exclusively licensed proprietary technologies that were developed by leading scientists at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), including Saar Gill, MD, PhD, an associate professor of Medicine at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine and a Carisma co-founder and fellow co-founder and Carisma’s Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Michael Klichinsky, PharmD, PhD, Carisma has well-established strategic partners to support the advancement of its pipeline. Carisma recently entered into a strategic partnership with Moderna for the discovery, development and commercialization of in vivo CAR-M therapies for up to 12 targets for the treatment of cancer. As part of the collaboration, Carisma received a $45 million up-front cash payment and an investment by Moderna in the form of a $35 million convertible note, which will convert into shares of common stock of the combined company in connection with the merger. Under the collaboration, Carisma will receive full research funding and is eligible to receive development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments, plus royalties on net sales of any products that are commercialized. Carisma has also partnered with Novartis, which has extensive experience in cell therapy manufacturing, to operate as Carisma’s contract manufacturing organization for clinical supply of its lead clinical program, CT-0508.