CPRIT-backed startup March Biosciences advances CD5 CAR T program after accelerator and grant funding
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Summary
March Biosciences, a CPRIT-supported company that emerged from the Texas Medical Center accelerator, reported early clinical progress in a CD5-directed CAR T trial and said CPRIT funding helped catalyze Series A support.
March Biosciences, a Houston-based cell-therapy company that received seed support through CPRIT-funded accelerator programs and a CPRIT grant, reported clinical progress on its CD5-directed autologous CAR T program (MB105) during the Aug. 20 CPRIT oversight meeting.
Founder and CEO Sarah Hine told the oversight committee that MB105, being developed initially for T-cell lymphomas, produced promising complete responses in early academic-phase work that informed the company’s launch. March Biosciences said it has dosed 10 patients in a multisite Phase 1/2 study and expects to complete the stage-1 cohort of 15 patients and report results by the end of the year. Hine said the product so far shows robust in‑patient expansion and a safety profile consistent with prior institutional data.
Hine described a development pathway that included participation in the Texas Medical Center Accelerator for Cancer Therapeutics and a CPRIT award that helped the company transition manufacturing from an academic setting into a more scalable production model. She said CPRIT funding and local institutional support were instrumental in attracting Series A investors and other partners, enabling March Biosciences to hire staff in Houston and advance a national trial with anchor Texas sites.
Why it matters: The company’s progress illustrates how CPRIT-funded accelerator programs and state grants can help translate academic-stage therapies into commercial clinical development and help retain biotech operations and jobs in Texas.
Less-critical details: Hine described operational stumbles typical of early-stage biotech, said that CPRIT staff worked collaboratively during budget negotiations, and emphasized a goal to create local operational talent by training staff through the startup’s growth.