Carisma Therapeutics Inc. announced that new pre-clinical data leveraging an mRNA platform to develop in-vivo chimeric antigen receptor macrophage ("CAR-M") will be presented as a late-breaking abstract (#LBA1514) at the upcoming Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 38th Annual Meeting held from November 1 to November 5, 2023, in San Diego, California. Two posters highlighting next-generation enhancements to Carisma's CAR-M platform, including a custom intronic shRNA approach and data on Engineered Microenvironment Converters (EM-C), will also be presented. Additionally, Carisma will share a trial-in-progress poster overviewing its Phase 1 first-in-human (FIH) study design of its lead program, CT-0508, sharing objectives and eligibility criteria.

Carisma will participate in the virtual SITC 2023 Annual Meeting Press Conference on November 1, 2023, from 12:00--1:30 pm PT. About CT-0508 CT-0508 is a human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) targeted chimeric antigen receptor macophage (CAR-M). It is being evaluated in a landmark Phase 1 multi-center clinical trial that focuses on patients with recurrent or metastatic HER2-overexpressing solid tumors whose cancers do not have approved HER2-targeted therapies or who do not respond to treatment.

Carisma is selecting participants who have tumors of any anatomical origin, but with the commonality of overexpressing the HER2 receptor on the cell surface, which is the target for CAR-M. The Phase 1 clinical trial marks the first time that engineered macrophages are being studied in humans. The trial continues to enroll patients at seven clinical sites in the U.S., including (i) Penn Medicine's Abramson Cancer Center, (ii) the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, (iii) the City of Hope National Medical Center, (iv) the MD Anderson Cancer Center, (v) the Sarah Cannon Cancer Research Institute, (vi) Oregon Health & Science University and (vii) Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.