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Biotech Startup Dispatch Grabs $216 Million to Battle Solid Tumors
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By Brian Gormley, WSJ Pro
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Good day. Biotechnology company Dispatch Bio has drawn venture investors to a technology that may enable many more patients to benefit from powerful cancer immunotherapies.
CAR-T is a type of immunotherapy where a patient’s own immune cells are genetically modified to turn them into cancer fighters. While CAR-T has been effective in treating blood cancers, it hasn’t had the same success against solid tumors, which are more common.
One hurdle has been that solid tumors mount defenses against immune cells, said Sabah Öney, chief executive of Dispatch, which has operations in San Francisco and Philadelphia. Cancer cells, for example, release chemicals to suppress the immune system in the tumor, he said.
CAR-T cells are designed to bind to antigens on cancer cells. Because those same antigens are also found on healthy cells, they can also attack normal cells, causing serious side effects.
Dispatch’s approach involves injecting patients with a virus that infects the tumor cells. The virus carries an antigen, called Flare, which tags solid-tumor cancer cells and breaks down their defenses against the immune system, according to Dispatch.
The Flare antigen also serves as a beacon for CAR-T immunotherapy. As a result, Dispatch expects its CAR-T cells to hit cancer cells, which will have the Flare marker, and not healthy cells, which won’t have it.
“The CAR-T cells can really focus on cancer cells and cancer cells alone,” Öney said.
Dispatch formed in 2022 but operated quietly until Wednesday, when it said it had raised $216 million in total venture funding from ARCH Venture Partners, the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Bristol-Myers Squibb and others.
Dispatch plans to begin treating patients in its initial clinical trials in 2026, Öney said.
And now on to the news...
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Dash Bio uses its technology to automate testing of samples from clinical trials and animal studies for pharmaceutical clients. PHOTO: BEARWALK CINEMA
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Biotech robots. Dash Bio has captured new venture funding after drawing pharmaceutical customers to a platform that uses robotics to crack a bottleneck that slows drug development.
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Former employees of biotechnology company Moderna launched Dash last year to automate the analysis of samples from clinical trials and animal studies for drugmakers. By replacing manual processes with robots, software and artificial intelligence, it aims to accelerate the search for new medicines, said Chief Executive Dave Johnson.
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Dash raised $6.5 million in seed funding last year to establish a lab in the Newton suburb of Boston. It has several customers and wasn’t seeking funding, but after fielding more investor interest, it raised $11 million in additional seed financing, Johnson said.
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The infusion will help Dash expand its testing platform and invest in sales and marketing. New investor the Aligned Fund led the financing, which also included backers such as Drive Capital and Cybernetix Ventures.
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6.7 Million
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The number of shares medical-technology company Carlsmed sold in its initial public offering.
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Fast-Growing Medtech Company Carlsmed Goes Public
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Healthcare companies with fast-growing revenue continue to be a bright spot in the market for initial public offerings. Carlsmed, a medical-technology company, went public on Wednesday, selling 6.7 million shares at $15 apiece, the midpoint of its expected range of $14 to $16. Its offering follows the recent IPOs from revenue-generating medtech companies such as Kestra Medical Technologies and digital-health concerns including Hinge Health.
Carlsbad, Calif.-based Carlsmed uses tools such as artificial intelligence and 3-D printing to help surgeons tailor spinal fusions to individual patients.
The company, whose venture backers included B Capital and U.S. Venture Partners, develops a plan to align the patient’s spine optimally. Once the patient’s surgeon approves it, Carlsmed builds devices designed to enable that alignment.
Carlsmed had $27.2 million in revenue in 2024, up from $13.8 million the prior year. It also booked $10.2 million in revenue in the first quarter of this year, double what it recorded in the first three months of 2024. Carlsmed shares fell 3.3% Wednesday to close at $14.50. —Brian Gormley
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Investing
Omers Ventures, the venture arm of Canadian pension fund Omers, plans to increase its investment activities in Canada, while continuing to invest in the U.S. on a selective basis. Michael Yang, formerly senior managing partner at Omers Ventures, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, has left Omers, the company said. Saar Pikar will lead the new strategy as managing director, head of ventures and growth. Laura Lenz has been promoted to managing director. Omers Ventures’ U.S. investments include DuckDuckGo, Crunchbase and Octaura. Omers Ventures continues to have investors based in New York and Palo Alto, Calif. —Yuliya Chernova
People
Suki, a company using generative AI to automatically create clinical documentation from patient-clinician conversations, appointed Kevin Wang as chief medical officer, Joe Chang as chief technology officer and Vikram Khanna as chief customer officer. Wang most recently served as CMO of apree health. Chang previously worked at Uber, Google, Primer.ai and Marin Software. Khanna joins Suki from Innovaccer.
Healthcare-focused investor OrbiMed promoted Mona Ashiya to general partner. She joined the firm in 2010.
Quanta Therapeutics, a developer of novel small molecule cancer medicines, appointed Vanessa L. Jacoby as chief business officer and chief financial officer. She previously served as CFO of Shoreline Biosciences.
Cardiovascular-care provider Karoo Health named Pia Shivdasani as chief operating officer. She most recently served as vice president at Boulder Care.
NodThera, a developer of treatments for chronic inflammatory diseases, appointed Jyothis George as chief medical officer. He was previously global medical vice president, obesity and related conditions at Amgen.
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AbsoluteCare, a Columbia, Md.-based healthcare provider, scored a $135 million strategic investment from CVS Health Ventures and others.
Nudge, a San Francisco startup developing noninvasive, ultrasound-based technology for brain stimulation and imaging, raised a $100 million Series A round led by Thrive Capital and Greenoaks.
Slingshot AI, a New York-based mental health research lab and provider of an AI therapy app, added $53 million in Series A extension funding co-led by Radical Ventures and Forerunner Ventures.
Respiree, a Singapore-based startup developing AI platforms to manage disease progression, closed an $11.6 million Series A round led by We Venture Capital and ClavystBio.
Cooler Heads, a San Diego-based developer of a scalp cooling system that helps prevent hair loss in chemotherapy patients, completed an $11 million Series A round led by Mutual Capital Partners.
Everlab, an Australia-based preventive care platform, was seeded with a $10 million investment led by Left Lane Capital.
Mara Renewables, a Canada-based startup delivering algae-derived omega-3 for human and animal nutrition, picked up a $9.1 million investment from S2G Investments.
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A flu vaccine being administered in Lynwood, Calif. PHOTO: MARK J. TERRILL/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Kentucky’s campaign to improve rural cancer care is a national model. Federal cuts threaten its progress. (STAT)
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Obesity prediction could be guided by genetic risk scores (New York Times)
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Protein degraders: chasing undruggable targets (BioPharma Dive)
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States pass privacy laws to protect brain data collected by devices (KFF Health News)
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