Umoja Biopharma is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing in vivo cell therapies to expand the reach, effectiveness, and access of CAR T treatments. Its VivoVec™ in vivo gene delivery technology is designed to empower a patient’s own immune system to fight disease by delivering therapeutic constructs directly in vivo. The company’s lead program is CD22 UB-VV400, which it plans to advance in multiple oncology and autoimmune clinical studies. Umoja intends to use proceeds from its recent financing to advance this in vivo CAR T pipeline. The company is led by CEO Andrew Scharenberg and is based in Seattle, Washington. In conjunction with the financing, Umoja added Campbell Murray, M.D., as a new board member. Umoja Biopharma leverages proprietary integrated technologies to reprogram immune cells in vivo to create next-generation immunotherapies for solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. Its platform includes CAR T-cell adapter-mediated tumor-targeting (TumorTag) and in vivo modification of immune cells (VivoVec and RACR/CAR). The company’s two lead programs are TumorTag UB-TT170 for folate receptor-expressing solid tumors and VivoVec UB-VV100 for CD19+ hematological cancers. Umoja will use proceeds from a $210M Series B to continue development of its integrated technologies and advance these product candidates into clinical development. The company also plans to build internal manufacturing capabilities to support preclinical and clinical development and to expand its team. Recent leadership hires include Nushmia Khokhar as Chief Medical Officer, Irena Melnikova as Chief Financial Officer and David Fontana as Chief Business and Strategy Officer, and Umoja is establishing a manufacturing operations site in Boulder, Colorado. Umoja Biopharma is a Seattle-based, pre-clinical biotechnology company pioneering an integrated in vivo immunotherapy platform. Its platform combines three core components: the VivoVec delivery platform, RACR/CAR payload architecture, and the TumorTag platform. VivoVec acts in vivo to generate a population of cancer-fighting VivoCAR T cells that can be controlled by the RACR/CAR system using exogenously administered, FDA-approved drugs. TumorTag molecules can be used in combination with VivoCAR T cells to direct cancer-killing T cells to tumors and their critical supporting cells. Led by co-founders Andy Scharenberg, M.D., and Michael Jensen, M.D., the company aims to re-engineer a patient's immune system to attack both hematologic and solid organ-based tumors with simplicity and cost that enable widespread implementation. The $53M Series A financing will enable Umoja to advance its platform and therapeutic programs to early clinical development, attract talent and invest in research.

Total raised

$363M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series C

Latest activity

Jan 2025