By Colin Kellaher

Moderna Inc. on Monday said it will collaborate with privately held biopharmaceutical company Carisma Therapeutics Inc. to discover, develop and commercialize in-vivo engineered chimeric antigen receptor monocyte therapeutics for the treatment of cancer.

Moderna, the Cambridge, Mass., biotechnology company best known for its Covid-19 vaccine, said the collaboration expands its oncology pipeline with a differentiated in-vivo cell-therapy approach.

Moderna said it will make a $45 million upfront cash payment to Carisma, which will also receive an investment in the form of a $35 million convertible note. Carisma also will receive research funding and is eligible to receive development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, along with royalties on sales of any products that result from the collaboration.

Moderna, which has the option to nominate up to a dozen targets, said Carisma will be responsible for the discovery and optimization of development candidates, while Moderna will lead the clinical development and commercialization activities.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-10-22 0701ET