University of Utah spinout NanoKar Therapeutics is developing technology to fine-tune existing CAR-T cancer treatments so cells can last longer and work more effectively. The company aims to improve therapies being developed for blood cancers and solid tumors.
CAR-T therapy engineers a patient’s T cells to recognize and attack cancer, but those cells can become overactive, wear out, die too soon, or trigger serious side effects. NanoKar is developing technology that adjusts signals inside CAR-T cells known as immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs, aiming to help cells remain active longer without becoming dangerously overactivated. Early research suggests the approach may produce CAR-T cells with greater persistence, reduced exhaustion, and lower toxicity.
NanoKar is at the preclinical stage, having performed in vivo and in vitro research on cancer cells. The company is conducting pre-IND work to file an Investigational New Drug Application ahead of Phase I trials. Rather than creating a single cancer therapy, NanoKar is developing a platform intended to integrate with existing CAR-T programs through strategic partnerships or licensing with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
The company grew from research led by University of Utah pathology professor Dr. Matthew Bettini, supported by the Department of Pathology and a National Institutes of Health grant. Craig Mosman joined as CEO to lead commercialization. NanoKar is now raising funding to hire additional employees, accelerate research, and develop new intellectual property.
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“We knew that this research had much broader potential. If this could work with other tumor antigens and specificities, then it could be widely applied to the field of cancer research.”
“These companies are individually making their products more efficacious. At the end of the day, we would like to see this technology help cure cancer patients and get survival as high as possible across all the applications.”
Dr. Matthew Bettini, Professor of Pathology, University of Utah
“We believe that the most effective way to get this treatment to the most patients in the shortest period of time is to strategically partner with one or more pharmaceutical companies that already have CAR-T programs.”
Craig Mosman, CEO, NanoKar Therapeutics
