Dispatch Bio has officially launched with a mission to create a universal treatment for solid tumors, which constitute roughly 90% of cancers. The company has secured a total of $216 million in funding, including a recent Series A round.
The Series A syndicate comprises founding investors ARCH Venture Partners and PICI, alongside Bristol Myers Squibb, the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, and Alexandria Venture Investments. This recently closed funding round brings Dispatch’s total capital raised to $216 million.
Dispatch’s Flare platform is engineered to overcome key challenges in solid tumor immunotherapy: the lack of a specific tumor target and an immune-suppressive environment. The platform utilizes a viral vector to deliver a novel, universal antigen called “Flare,” which precisely targets tumor cells while simultaneously neutralizing the tumor’s inhibitory environment. This enables the immune system to identify and eliminate cancer cells without damaging healthy tissue.
Founded in 2022, Dispatch Bio emerged from a collaboration with the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) and features groundbreaking technologies from the labs of Andy Minn, Carl June, Chris Garcia, and Kole Roybal.
The $216 million in funding, with founding investors including ARCH Venture Partners and PICI, along with Bristol Myers Squibb, University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, and Alexandria Venture Investments, will primarily advance Dispatch’s therapeutic candidates into first-in-human clinical studies, with the first program expected to enter the clinic in 2026.
Scientific Co-Founders
- Andy Minn, M.D., Ph.D., Chair of Immuno-Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
- Carl June, M.D., PICI Center Director and the Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
- Chris Garcia, Ph.D., Professor of Structural Biology and Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford University
- Kole Roybal, Ph.D., PICI Center Director and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of California, San Francisco
Board of Directors
- Jeff Marrazzo, Chairman; Co-founder and Former CEO, Spark Therapeutics
- Jake Bauer, Venture Partner, ARCH Venture Partners
- John Connolly, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, PICI
- Robert Nelsen, Co-founder and Managing Director, ARCH Venture Partners
- Sabah Oney, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, Dispatch
- Sean Parker, Founder and Chairman, PICI
- Steve Gillis, Ph.D., Managing Director, ARCH Venture Partners
Leadership Team
- Sabah Oney, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer
- Barbra Sasu, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer
- Chris Wiwi, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Technical Operations
- Jennifer Flaisher, Chief People and Culture Officer
- Lex Johnson, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Platform Officer
- Naveen Bazaj, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development
Scientific Advisory Board
- Kole Roybal, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco; SAB Chairman
- Andy Minn, M.D., Ph.D., Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
- Antoni Ribas, M.D., Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
- Anusha Kalbasi, M.D., Stanford University
- Brad Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Carl June, M.D., University of Pennsylvania
- Chris Garcia, Ph.D., Stanford University
- Christine Brown, Ph.D., City of Hope
- David Kirn, M.D., 4D Molecular Therapeutics; University of California, Berkeley
- John Connolly, Ph.D., PICI
- Kristen Hege, M.D., University of California, San Francisco
- Lisa Coussens, M.D., Ph.D., FAACR, Oregon Health & Science University
- Matt Porteus, M.D., Ph.D., Stanford University
How the funding will be used: The company will use the funding proceeds to advance its therapeutic candidates into first-in-human clinical studies, with the first program expected to enter clinical trials in 2026.
KEY QUOTES:
“At Dispatch, we are leveraging the ideal tumor target – one that is only expressed by the tumor cells in a patient – and advances in cell therapy engineering and immune system activation at the right place, at the right time, to get to deep and durable responses in cancer. This work matters deeply to me, as it does to so many whose lives have been touched by cancer. We’ve built a strong scientific foundation, assembled an exceptional team and developed innovative technology that give us a real shot at making a difference. We are fully committed to doing everything we can for patients who urgently need new options.”
Sabah Oney, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Dispatch
“With this confluence of innovative technologies from the labs across PICI, we are poised to shift how cancer therapies are conceived. We can now pursue the ultimate goal – a universal cure for most solid tumor cancers – using cutting-edge modalities.”
Sean Parker, founder and chairman of PICI, as well as a member of Dispatch’s board of directors
“We are on the wave of a revolution in cancer therapy, where innovations like Dispatch’s tumor-agnostic approach to immunotherapy have the potential to treat a majority of solid tumors. We are excited to support the Dispatch team as they continue to advance their programs.”
Steve Gillis, Ph.D., board member of Dispatch and managing director at ARCH Venture Partners
