CREATE Medicines Raises $122 Million to Advance In Vivo CAR-T Therapies for Cancer and Autoimmune Diseases
核心洞察
CREATE Medicines (搜索), formerly Myeloid Therapeutics, secured $122 million in Series B funding from Newpath Partners (搜索), ARCH Venture Partners (搜索), and Hatteras Venture Partners (搜索) to advance its in vivo CAR-T (搜索) therapy pipeline.
The Cambridge-based biotech, cofounded by Pulitzer Prize-winning oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee, is developing CAR-T (搜索) therapies using myeloid cells (搜索) that are generated directly inside patients' bodies rather than through traditional ex vivo manufacturing.
The company is currently testing two cancer therapies in clinical trials for breast cancer (搜索) and hepatocellular carcinoma (搜索), while planning to initiate its first autoimmune disease trial in the coming months.
CREATE Medicines (搜索) has secured $122 million in Series B funding to advance its innovative approach to CAR-T (搜索) cell therapy, marking a significant milestone for the Cambridge-based biotech as it pushes its first candidates through human trials. The financing round was led by Newpath Partners (搜索), ARCH Venture Partners (搜索), and Hatteras Venture Partners (搜索).
The company, formerly known as Myeloid Therapeutics until its rebranding last fall, was cofounded by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee. CREATE is developing CAR-T (搜索) therapies using myeloid cells (搜索) designed to better attack solid tumors, with the goal of generating these therapeutic cells directly inside patients' bodies rather than through the traditional ex vivo manufacturing process.
Expanding Beyond Cancer Into Autoimmune Diseases
Like many oncology CAR-T (搜索) companies, CREATE has expanded its focus to include autoimmune disease research. CEO Daniel Getts explained that the company began considering autoimmune applications after reviewing data from Capstan Therapeutics (搜索), another company working on in vivo CAR-T approaches.
"I think we know from what we've observed and what we've done, that we do have superior products, and I think… we'll win the foot race, as well," Getts said. Clay Thorp, cofounder of Hatteras Ventures, noted that in preclinical testing, CREATE has demonstrated some of the best ability to suppress B-cells (搜索), which overreact in autoimmune diseases (搜索) and direct the immune system to attack healthy tissues.
Clinical Pipeline and Strategic Positioning
CREATE is currently testing two therapies in clinical trials: one for breast cancer (搜索) and another for hepatocellular carcinoma (搜索). The company previously shelved an experimental therapy for glioblastoma (搜索) to redirect resources elsewhere. CREATE anticipates requesting regulatory permission to begin a trial of its first autoimmune therapy within the next few months.
The Series B funding represents a "good step up" in CREATE's valuation, according to Getts, and should sustain the company through its early clinical trials. The company last raised money in 2023, during a period when many biotechs in CREATE's cohort of cell therapy companies were acquired by large pharmaceutical companies.
Industry Recognition and Leadership Changes
Newpath founder Tom Cahill expressed surprise that CREATE had "seemed to fly under the radar as the first fully in vivo CAR company with patient data." He described CREATE as "the most distinctive company in our portfolio" based on its growing pipeline and clinical data.
Alongside the financing, CREATE has recruited former Orbital Therapeutics (搜索) CEO Ron Philip to lead its board of directors. Philip guided Orbital through its $1.5 billion acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb (搜索) last year. His move to CREATE allows him to continue involvement in in vivo CAR-T (搜索) drug development and the autoimmune disease field as the company advances through clinical trials.
Market Context and Future Outlook
The CAR-T (搜索) field has faced scientific and commercial challenges despite initial success against blood cancers. Strong data from German laboratories demonstrating the potential of CAR-T approaches in autoimmune diseases (搜索) has prompted many drug developers to pivot, retooling cancer therapies into treatments for conditions like lupus (搜索) and myasthenia gravis (搜索).
Getts remains optimistic about CREATE's competitive position, often pointing to Keytruda as an example of how being first to market doesn't guarantee ultimate success. The anti-PD-1 (搜索) drug was not the first in its class but became the most effective treatment in the category.