Caribou Biosciences halts CAR-T programs and cuts staff amid funding shortfall

Caribou Biosciences, a CRISPR gene-editing company co-founded by Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna, announced it will stop work on its off-the-shelf CAR-T cancer therapies.

The decision follows the company’s inability to raise sufficient capital to fund a pivotal Phase 3 trial for one of the therapies, even though the program was ready for late-stage testing in lymphoma.

CEO Rachel Haurwitz said the current financing environment for allogeneic CAR-T cell therapies is increasingly challenging, and the board will explore mergers, acquisitions or other strategic options for the company or its assets.

Caribou also said a substantial reduction in workforce will be largely completed by the end of the year, reflecting broader funding pressures facing the cell-therapy sector.