IP Group commits $8.5m to Carisma Therapeutics fundraising

Intellectual property-based business developer IP Group announced on Wednesday that its US-based portfolio company Carisma Therapeutics has launched a $53 million Series A fundraising.

The FTSE 250 firm said Carisma’s discovery and development efforts were focused on its proprietary CAR-Macrophage platform, which uniquely combined antigen recognition with the effector function of macrophages.

Initial applications included targeting and killing solid tumors.

“The company's therapeutic candidates also leverage macrophage antigen-presenting cell biology with the potential to mount an adaptive immune response,” IP Group’s board said in its statement.

“Carisma anticipates initiating clinical development in 2019.”

The financing was led by AbbVie Ventures and HealthCap and includes existing seed investors IP Group, Penn Medicine and Grazia Equity. Carisma is also proud to welcome new investors Wellington Partners, TPG Biotech, MRL Ventures Fund and Agent Capital.

IP Group said it committed to invest a total of $8.5m of the round, which was tranched and subject to the achievement of certain milestones.

The group invested $4.25m in the first tranche of the fundraising.