NEW YORK – Verismo Therapeutics said on Tuesday that it has raised $7 million in a pre-Series A financing round, which it will use to advance investigational KIR-CAR cell therapies.
BRV Capital Management led the funding round and Ignite Innovation participated. The latest round brings the total funds the University of Pennsylvania spinout has raised to $33 million since launching in 2020.
Verismo is developing dual-chain CAR T-cell therapies, which are designed to maintain anti-tumor T-cell activity, avoiding cell exhaustion including in solid tumor environments. Last September, the firm began a Phase I clinical trial of its autologous SynKIR-110 in patients with mesothelin-expressing ovarian cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, and mesothelioma.
The new financing will support the new clinical trial as well as preclinical studies of SynKIR-310, which Verismo is developing for certain blood cancer patients.
"The transformative impact of CAR T-cell therapy we have seen in blood cancers has been slow to come to solid tumors," Kwan Yoon, chief information officer at BRV Capital, said in a statement. "We are thrilled to partner with the Verismo team to advance their KIR-CAR products and make a difference in the lives of patients with solid tumors."