Philadelphia-based Carisma Therapeutics has chosen an experimental cell therapy that targets the most prevalent type of liver cancer as the first drug development candidate under its Moderna partnership, writes John George for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

The move has triggered a $2 million payment to the immunotherapy company from Moderna and boosted its stock price by 20 percent to $1.57 per share on Friday morning.

“This milestone represents a significant step forward in the development of immunotherapies for solid tumors, and an advance for the in vivo cell therapy field,” said Michael Klichinsky, co-founder and chief scientific officer at Carisma.

Carisma pioneers cell therapies focusing on macrophages, a type of cell found in stationary form in tissue or at sites of infection as a mobile white blood cell. The company has developed a way to engineer macrophage cells genetically using chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) to direct a therapy to tumor cells. Thanks to its in vivo approach, there is no need to manipulate the cells outside the body and then re-infuse them in patients.

The cell therapy candidate Carisma will work on with Moderna will be designed as a potential treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Read more about Carisma Therapeutics and its Moderna partnership in the Philadelphia Business Journal.

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