MINNEAPOLIS, March 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Luminary Therapeutics today announced that it has been awarded up to $5.8 million in funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to develop a mesothelin chimeric antigen receptor T cells (“CAR T”) targeting non-small cell lung cancer and colorectal cancer.
“While CAR T therapies have been effective for blood cancers, solid tumors like lung and colorectal cancers have proven to be resistant to current CAR T therapies”, said Jeff Liter, CEO and President of Luminary Therapeutics. “This project combines an allogeneic CAR T for direct killing of tumor cells with the ability to utilize the patient’s immune system to target tumor cells by also leveraging the gamma delta cell’s ability to work as professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and presenting tumor-specific neo antigens. Combining neo antigen-presenting functions with CAR directed killing in a single cellular chassis will increase the effectiveness of cellular therapies by recruiting a patient’s immune system to increase the response and durability of tumor clearance.”
Since its founding in 2019, Luminary Therapeutics has developed a proprietary gamma delta expansion platform that is unique in the industry and allows Luminary to manufacture cell therapies with a significantly lower cost and reduced time to clinic. Leveraging this platform, the Company has developed two groundbreaking therapeutic programs designed to overcome current challenges of CAR T therapies for solid tumors and autoimmune disorders. The award from ARPA-H represents not only a significant step forward in scaling Luminary’s therapeutic pipeline, while expanding the capabilities of its gamma delta expansion platform, but also aligns with ARPA-H’s mission to improve health outcomes for everyone.
About Luminary Therapeutics
Luminary is a clinical stage cell therapy company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and led by a seasoned team with decades of experience in cell therapy manufacturing and gene editing. It has developed a unique manufacturing process utilizing a proprietary gamma delta platform to support challenging clinical scale dosing and improve manufacturing economies of scale. Luminary is in multiple autologous Phase I clinical trials for its first therapeutic program utilizing its novel triple receptor BAFF CAR T. Luminary also has a pre-clinical dual targeting CAR platform with unique signaling properties for solid tumor therapies. These therapies are focused on combining advanced receptor and signaling design with superior cell engineering to improve the depth and durability of patient responses to cell therapy for underserved patients with cancers and autoimmune disorders. Learn more at www.luminarytx.com.
Investor Relations
Jeff Liter
1.612.309.7653
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SOURCE Luminary Therapeutics
