Umoja launches with $53M round to test cell therapy cocktails that expand CAR T cells within patients

Umoja’s assembly of a three-step platform could allow the newly launched start-up to create off-the-shelf cell therapy cocktails that expand CAR T cells within patients to treat solid tumors or hematologic malignancies.

Named for a Swahili word that translates to “unity,” Umoja Biopharma Inc. uses vectors to deliver a small population of its VivoCAR T cells, which can be expanded after administration. The cells carry a payload that can be activated and controlled by exogenously administered small molecules. The payload system, which Umoja calls RACR/CAR, is then drawn to tumor cells via Umoja’s TumorTag technology...