Dispatch Bio Raises $216 Million to Pursue Universal Solid Tumor Therapy

Newly launched Dispatch Bio has secured $216 million in Series A funding to advance what it calls a “universal” immunotherapy for solid tumors. The Philadelphia- and San Francisco-based company was incubated by Arch Venture Partners and the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, with additional backing from Bristol Myers Squibb, university partners at Penn and Stanford, and Alexandria Venture Investments. Dispatch’s two-step approach delivers a synthetic protein, dubbed the “flare” antigen, to cancer cells using a viral vector, then directs engineered CAR-T cells to attack any tissue expressing that marker. The company says the platform is designed to bypass the lack of common tumor targets and the immune-suppressive micro-environment that have limited existing cell therapies against solid tumors, which account for roughly 90 percent of cancers. Chief Executive Officer Sabah Oney said the proceeds will fund manufacturing and move the lead program into a Phase 1 trial expected next year. Founding scientists include immunotherapy pioneers Carl June of the University of Pennsylvania and Chris Garcia of Stanford, whose research underpins the flare antigen technology.