The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Therapy Acceleration Program, a venture philanthropy initiative, has announced five investments aimed at accelerating the development of new and improved immunotherapies for the treatment of blood cancers.

To accelerate high-risk, innovative therapeutics and change the standard of care in leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma, LLS TAP makes investments of up to $10 million and offers expertise to companies working to advance pioneering approaches to cellular immunotherapies. Recipients of the latest investments include Caribou Biosciences, which was co-founded by CRISPR pioneer and Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna and uses next-generation CRISPR genome editing technology to develop "off-the-shelf" chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies for hard-to-treat blood cancers; NexImmune, which received an initial TAP investment nearly four years ago and whose Artificial Immune Modulation (AIM) platform uses nanoparticles to directly activate the body's T cells to fight specific types of cancer; Immune-Onc Therapeutics, which is developing a novel type of myeloid-immune checkpoint inhibitor that enable the body's own immune cells to effectively attack cancer cells; CARISMA Therapeutics, a spin-out company from the University of Pennsylvania that is developing CAR-engineered macrophages — white blood cells that exert broad effects on the immune system — to infiltrate solid tumors, eat away at cancer, and activate the adaptive immune system; and Abintus Bio, which is developing in vivo CAR therapies that allow for CAR T cells to be generated directly in a patient's body.

"We are very proud of our role in bringing groundbreaking immunotherapies to patients, including [CAR] T-cell therapy, which harnesses the power of T cells to kill tumor cells," said LLS president and CEO Louis DeGennaro. "Our TAP venture philanthropy initiative is investing in the next generation of immunotherapies to find cancer treatments that are even more effective, safer, longer-lasting, easier to use, and active against more types of cancer."