The trial will be led by principal investigator Prof. Antonia Busse, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, and will be coordinated by National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Berlin, with additional participation from other German NCT sites and the Nuremberg Hospital as an external partner. The study will enroll patients with multiple advanced MAGE-A4-positive solid tumour indications, including lung, bladder, gastroesophageal, ovarian, and head and neck cancers. Furthermore, Captain T Cell will validate its proprietary best-in-class toolbox in the clinical setting as part of the CTC127 programme. This versatile engineering toolbox enables functional “armouring” of T cells to enhance their anti-tumour activity, persistence, and resilience within the solid tumour microenvironment.
In parallel, the company has already demonstrated complete in vivo responses in a programme leveraging its first-in-class allogeneic TCR-T cell platform and will advance it toward clinical trial readiness.
The financing round was led by Springboard Health Angels and Pluton Asset Holding AG, joined by Sintra Limited and Technologiegründerfonds Sachsen, as well as existing investors i&i Biotech Fund I SCSp, HIL-INVENT and Brandenburg Kapital. The latest equity funding, along with already secured grants, provides Captain T Cell with a total budget of EUR 20 million.
Captain T Cell was founded as a spin-off from the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association. The start-up builds on years of research conducted in the labs on Campus Buch and utilizes technologies developed there. The Max Delbrück Center provided significant financial and infrastructural support throughout the pre-seed phase and, even after Captain T Cell’s relocation to Bayer Co.Lab Berlin, remains a close partner of the company, along with the technology transfer consultancy Ascenion. Ascenion had supported the Captain T Cell team for several years before the foundation and negotiated the licence agreement with Captain T Cell for the Max Delbrück Center.
Further information: Captain T Cell's press release
