Poseida's CAR-T, Gene Therapy Programs Get $142m Boost, Including Novartis Cash

Despite its sidetracked IPO, a registrational trial for the company's BCMA-targeting CAR-T is underway to support a late 2020 BLA filing and this new VC funding could accelerate additional programs. CAR-T pioneer Novartis is strictly an investor in the Series C round, but takes a board seat.

New financing should help Poseida accelerate its timeline

Poseida Therapeutics Inc. may have one of the first BCMA-targeting chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies approved in the US for multiple myeloma, which is why investors were eager to invest in the initial public offering the company proposed in January. But when the IPO was waylaid by the US government shutdown, other options for funding its development programs emerged.

San Diego-based Poseida believes its technology lends itself to safer and more persistent CAR-T therapies. The firm closed a $142m...