Carisma Therapeutics Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing innovative immunotherapies, has appointed Michael Klichinsky, PharmD, PhD, as chief scientific officer.
 
Klichinsky co-founded the company in 2016 following his foundational work at the University of Pennsylvania that led to the development of Carisma’s chimeric antigen receptor macrophage (CAR-M) technology.
 
“The entire Carisma team is thrilled and honored to have Mike assume the role of chief scientific officer on behalf of the company and to continue driving our novel cell therapy technology,” shared Steven Kelly, president and CEO of Carisma. “Working alongside Mike for nearly five years, I continue to be impressed by his expertise and passion for the work that we do – and am confident that through his leadership of our organization’s research efforts, we will continue to see the benefits and impact of his thoughtful and critical approach to engineered cell therapies unfold.”
 
Klichinsky received his PhD in Pharmacology from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he conducted his thesis work under the co-mentorship of Saar Gill, MD, PhD, and Carl June, MD – leading to the co-invention of engineered macrophages and the first-in-human CAR-M therapy CT-0508.
 
“I am thrilled to continue building upon the pioneering research Carisma is conducting with our engineered macrophage technology,” reflected Michael. “This is an exciting time for the science, as we expand our platform into engineering monocytes and iPSC derived myeloid cells. Additionally, we are excited to advance our work on the in vivo reprogramming of myeloid cells through our collaboration with Moderna.”