BRIEF—$52 million financing for new cell therapy firm Appia Bio

Los Angeles, USA-based Appia Bio has launched with a $52 million series A financing led by 8VC.

The firm is working on creating off-the-shelf allogeneic cell therapies across a broad array of cancer indications, using its novel ACUA technology, which originated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

The money will be used to support the advancement of Appia’s pipeline of allogeneic CAR-iNKT cell therapy candidates.

In addition, Appia has established a Scientific Advisory Board to help inform the company’s work in immunology, immuno-oncology, and cell therapy engineering.

Chief executive JJ Kang said the financing would “position us to rapidly build out our CAR-iNKT pipeline and establish the clinical potential of our ACUA platform.”