More control.
Less toxicity.
We are control freaks.
In a good way, a really good way.
​
Attacking cancer using engineered immune cells (e.g. Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cells; CAR-Ts) has transformed outcomes for patients with some types of blood cancer (e.g. B-cell lymphomas and acute lymphoblastic leukemias); however, this approach has failed to gain traction in solid tumors for two reasons ─ too much and not enough.
​
The current state of engineered cell therapies leverages synthetic “control code” borrowed from other areas of biology and misappropriated for T-cells. The result are cell therapies that side step the natural guard rails our immune cells have evolved over millenia.
Chimera has innovated a suite of native T-cell inspired genetic engineering technologies to address the challenges in the field.
| FIRST
Too little activity: CAR-Ts have not yet been demonstrated to be effective in solid tumor patients
​
| SECOND
Too much toxicity: Too many patients receiving CAR-Ts have severe side effects, and engineered payloads have failed to gain traction due to toxicities they cause when their expression is not controlled
| THIRD
Too much or not enough engineered chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) on the cell surface can result in activity against normal, non-target expressing cells or inactivity, respectively
| FOURTH
Too much local immunosuppression at the site of tumor prohibits CAR-Ts from activating and being effective
THERAPEUTIC PAYLOAD
​
Payloads can solve the challenges of not enough activity by arming CAR-T cells with proteins able to counteract local immunosuppression tumors have evolved to protect them
Chimera's GOLD PLATFORM™ precisely controls gene expression in any cell therapy.
MERCURY​™
​
Mercury can solve the problem of too much or too little CAR expression through its ability to tune expression of the CAR
GOLD CONTROL™
​
GOLD Control of engineered payloads can solve the problem of too much toxicity by controlling where, when and how much PAYLOAD is being produced by the CAR-T cell
TRANSGENE VECTOR​
​
Advanced vector design can solve manufacturing scalability problems often caused by complex vector engineering by integrating multiple elements of control code (e.g. CAR, GOLD, PAYLOADS & MERCURY) into a single vector
Partnering: Better Together
In an effort to validate the Chimera platform technology and bring more effective and safe cell therapies to patients as swiftly as possible, we are independently advancing several solid tumor and blood cancer programs towards clinical trials.
​
We are interested in developing broad strategic collaborations leveraging Chimera’s proprietary suite of technologies to optimize partner programs on a target-by-target basis, and are also open to discussions related to partnering on one or more of our internal lead therapeutic programs.
​
Reach out to us if you would like to learn more.