Sesen Bio slumps on news of merger

22 September 2022

Shares of US biotech Sesen Bio (Nasdaq: SESN) tumbled nearly 33% to $0.45 by close of trading yesterday, after it revealed a plan to merge with privately-held Carisma Therapeutics. The combined company is expected to advance Carisma’s cell therapy platform - in particular, its chimeric antigen receptor macrophage (CAR-M) therapies.

Carisma, a University of Pennsylvania spinout, is pioneering the development of CAR-M therapies and is believed to be the only company developing CAR-M therapies with demonstrated proof of mechanism and safety data in clinical trials. The combined company is expected to operate under the name Carisma Therapeutics and trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “CARM”.

Back in July, Sesen (formerly called Eleven Biotherapeutics) suffered a major setback when it decided to voluntarily pause further development in the USA of its lead asset, Vicineum (oportuzumab monatox-qqrs), which had been touted as having blockbuster potential.

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