The CAR-T promise: Umoja bags $100m in Series C financingThe CAR-T promise: Umoja bags $100m in Series C financing

Clinical-stage firm Umoja said the $100 million financing (co-led by Double Point Ventures and DCVC Bio) will support its in vivo chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy pipeline. This includes its lead candidate CD22 UB-VV400 program in various oncology and autoimmune clinical studies.

“UB-VV400 is designed to generate CD22 targeted CAR-T cells directly in a patient’s body without the requirement for pre-conditioning chemotherapy,” Umoja CEO Andy Scharenberg told BioXconomy. “Our initial clinical study for UB-VV400 is focused on evaluating its safety and activity in relapsed and refractory large B cell lymphoma patients.”

Additionally, the financing will support the clinical development of Umoja’s lentiviral-based in vivo CAR-T cell generation platform named VivoVec. Earlier this month, the firm collaborated with AbbVie in an option and license agreement to develop multiple generated CAR-T cell therapy candidates in oncology using the VivoVec platform.

While there are still outstanding questions about best practices for quality control for CAR-T therapies that will need to be resolved before patients see these benefits, Umoja has published two papers and shared data validating VivoVec.

Deciphering the demand

Britton Russell, chief financial officer at Umoja told us, “There was significant demand for our Series C offering due to our leading position in the in vivo CAR-T cell therapy space.” Furthermore, the firm “chose to cap the round at $100 million to include new and existing investors, and we expect this amount to be sufficient to bridge us through multiple clinical catalysts through 2026.”

The round included participation from new and existing investors such as Cormorant Asset Management, RTW Investments, and Alexandria Venture Investments, among others.

Russell outlined Umoja’s strategy to securing successful funding rounds. “Like all early-stage biotechnology companies, we have ongoing conversations with investors.” Through these conversations, the firm develops “an understanding of what data investors are seeking to become engaged with the company.”

He continued: “Internally, we focus on execution and delivering on consistent timelines. Disciplined execution and compelling data draw investment from top tier investors.”