Capstan Therapeutics Begins Phase 1 Trial of CAR-T Therapy for Autoimmune Disease 

Capstan Therapeutics, a biotechnology company spun out of Penn, has initiated its Phase 1 trial of an in vivo CAR-T therapy for B cell-mediated autoimmune disorders. Read more here

Capstan was co-founded by a team of leading experts at Penn Medicine and Penn Vet, including:

  • Carl June, MD, the Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy Professor of Medicine, Penn Medicine 
  • Bruce Levine, PhD, the Barbara and Edward Netter Professor in Cancer Gene Therapy, Penn Medicine
  • Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, the Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research and Director of the Penn Institute for RNA Innovation, Penn Medicine
  • Hamideh Parhiz, PharmD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Penn Medicine 
  • Steven Albelda, MD, the William Maul Measey Professor of Medicine, Penn Medicine
  • Jonathan Epstein, MD, Dean of Penn Medicine and Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System
  • Haig Aghajanian, PhD, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine, Penn Medicine 
  • Ellen Pure, AB, PhD, Professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Penn Vet