Sponsored by
We are also very proud to announce the award of a $50,000 venture philanthropy grant to KiraGen Bio to support groundbreaking work in engineered CAR-T cell therapy for glioblastoma (GBM). KiraGen is developing off-the-shelf CAR-T cell therapies that are engineered to 'tune out' immune suppressive signals in the tumor microenvironment, thus helping the CAR-T treatment remain active and effective longer without increasing toxicity.
This grant will support a study to determine which of KiraGen’s lead 6-knockout allogeneic CAR-T variants delivers the most durable anti-tumor function when faced with realistic GBM tumor microenvironment suppression. Using patient-derived GBM tumoroids that preserve native tumor architecture and immune suppressive signaling, the research team will test these engineered cells against conventional CAR-T to decide which configuration is best positioned to advance toward a clinical trial. By supporting this work, we hope to move the next generation of engineered cell therapies closer to patients and families affected by GBM.