Liberate Bio, a biotechnology firm pioneering genetic medicines that deliver RNA therapies directly to immune cells, has landed exclusive and non-exclusive licenses to critical patents for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) designs optimized for myeloid cells, including monocytes and macrophages.

 

“This licensing agreement meaningfully strengthens our clinical programs,” said Walter R. Strapps, Chief Scientific Officer of Liberate Bio.

 

The licensed intellectual property, originating from Carisma Therapeutics and the University of Pennsylvania, covers methods and designs for CAR constructs engineered to function in myeloid cell populations. These CAR designs complement Liberate’s proprietary lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery platform, which selectively programs monocytes and macrophages in vivo.

 

With both optimized CAR-sequence IP and cell-selective delivery technology, Liberate Bio now holds the integrated tools needed to push in vivo CAR-M therapies toward clinical evaluation.

 

“Myeloid cells have unique biology distinct from T cells, and CAR constructs optimized for their activation and persistence are essential,” Strapps added. “By combining validated methods for CAR designs with our myeloid-selective LNP platform, we are building a differentiated and highly integrated approach to in vivo cell therapy.”

 

Liberate’s RAPTOR™ platform directly screens LNPs in non-human primates to identify vehicles that target extrahepatic immune cells. Its lead LNP previously achieved over 99% depletion of circulating B cells in primates through selective programming of monocytes and macrophages.

 

“In vivo CAR-M represents a new chapter in immune reprogramming,” said Shawn P. Davis, Chief Executive Officer of Liberate Bio. “By uniting best-in-class delivery with optimized myeloid CAR designs, we are establishing a durable foundation for a scalable and potentially safer alternative to CAR-T — one capable of reaching broader patient populations across autoimmune and oncology indications.”

 

Liberate Bio is now moving its first in vivo CAR-M candidate toward IND-enabling studies, aiming for the first clinical evaluation in the second half of 2026 through an investigator-initiated trial.