Cytiva receives ARPA-H award with ambition to help transform CAR-T cell therapy for solid tumors
October 7, 2025
Cytiva (Global Life Sciences Solutions USA, LLC), a Danaher company and a global leader in the life sciences industry, will lead a new effort aiming to develop a transformative in vivo CAR-T cell therapy platform for gastrointestinal (GI) cancers with a radically reduced manufacturing cost. The project will be funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Engineering of Immune Cells Inside the Body (EMBODY) program. EMBODY is led by ARPA-H Program Manager Daria Fedyukina, Ph.D.
Beate Mueller-Tiemann, Chief Technology Officer, Cytiva, says: “We are honored to collaborate on this work with world-leading academic institutions, bringing together expertise across multiple disciplines including gene editing, delivery innovation, cancer therapies, and more.”
The research is anticipated to include contributions from the Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI); University of California, San Francisco (UCSF); University of California, Berkeley; Stanford Medicine; and The Ohio State University. Fellow Danaher subsidiaries Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) and Aldevron will contribute clinic-enabling solutions.
The anticipated collaboration will aim to develop a non-viral, lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-based system for in vivo CRISPR genome editing that engineers cancer-targeting CAR-T cells directly within the body – eliminating the need for traditional, resource-intensive cell extraction and re-infusion. It seeks to address three of the most persistent challenges in cell and gene therapy:- Targeting solid tumors: Moving beyond blood cancers to address solid tumors such as gastric, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers.
- Enabling in vivo CAR-T therapy: Engineering immune cells inside the body so as to avoid the autologous ex vivo process that drives up complexity and cost.
- Achieving significant cost reduction: Making therapies accessible with an aspirational target to reduce cost of manufacturing by 10x over current standards.
Fyodor Urnov, director of technology and translation at the IGI, says: “This collaboration represents a bold step toward realizing the full potential of gene editing to treat cancer in a precise, personalized, and scalable way. We have an Avengers-like team across academia, industry, and government that aims to develop a first-in-class injectable gene editor to potentially reprogram a patient’s immune system to home in on and eradicate the cancer.”
The collaboration will expand on many of the technologies used to develop and manufacture the world’s first personalized CRISPR therapy, which are also being advanced by the Danaher/IGI Beacon for CRISPR Cures.
Dr. Sadik Kassim, Danaher’s Chief Technology Officer for Life Sciences Omics Solutions and principal investigator on the project, says: “ARPA-H’s EMBODY program represents a critical step toward democratizing next-generation immunotherapies. By focusing on rapid development and scalable manufacturing, we aim to help deliver high-quality, innovative therapies that improve patient outcomes, increase accessibility and affordability, and create long-term value for the health system at large.”
This research will be funded, in part, by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Government.
Cytiva and the drop logo are trademarks of Global Life Sciences Solutions USA LLC or an affiliate doing business as Cytiva.
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Mary Carmichael[email protected]
About Cytiva
At Cytiva, a Danaher company, our mission is to advance and accelerate the development of therapeutics. With 15 000 associates in more than 40 countries, we’re driven to use our expertise and talent to achieve better flexibility, capacity, and efficiency for our customers. Our broad and deep portfolio of tools and technologies, global scale, and best-in-class service provides critical support from discovery to delivery, for customers spanning researchers, emerging biotech, large-scale biopharma and contract manufacturers. Learn more at cytiva.com
About Danaher
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