United Immunity Completes Acquisition of Technical Assets from Carisma Therapeutics

United Immunity, Inc. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Masato Kishida), aiming to deliver groundbreaking treatment experiences to patients with cancer and fibrosis through the selective activation of macrophages and dendritic cells, has announced the completion of its acquisition of technical assets from Carisma Therapeutics (Philadelphia, USA).

"The acquired technical assets are all groundbreaking technologies and programs that enhance anti-tumor or anti-fibrotic efficacy through the modification of in vivo macrophages, and they have high affinity with our P-LNP technology, which enables active and selective delivery of genes to macrophages," said Masato Kishida, President of United Immunity.

"Our in vivo CAR-M program, enhanced by Carisma's proprietary technical assets, has the potential to offer benefits to patients with solid tumors that are not provided by existing therapies. Furthermore, our in vivo CAR-M program may lead to an improved safety profile by reducing the risk of Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS) and Immune Effector Cell-Associated Neurotoxicity Syndrome (ICANS), which are frequently seen with CAR-T cell therapy."

Carisma Therapeutics is a leading company in the macrophage field in the United States and has experience conducting Ph1 clinical trials for CAR-M cell therapy. By inheriting Carisma's assets, United Immunity aims to take a step forward toward becoming a global drug discovery company in the innate immunity field.

Company Profile

Unite the power of immunity and nanoparticle, change the future of patients

United Immunity, Inc. is an innovative biotech company that develops the Myeloid Targeting Platform™, composed of Pullulan Nanoparticles (PNP) and PEG-free, immune-targeting Pullulan-coated Lipid Nanoparticles (P-LNP). This platform aims to treat cancer, fibrosis, infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, and inflammatory diseases by delivering therapeutic components such as small molecules, nucleic acids, peptides, and proteins to disease-associated macrophages and dendritic cells. The lead program, UI-102, uses PNP to deliver TLR7/8 agonists to tumor-associated macrophages, with the goal of converting immune-resistant, intractable tumors into immune-responsive, treatment-sensitive tumors. Utilizing P-LNP technology, the company is also working on creating in vivo CAR macrophages for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases.