A new cell therapy company is on the block, propelled by powerhouse scientific co-founders from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center with years of experience investigating how to harness the immune system to treat cancer.
Affini-T Therapeutics, which emerged Wednesday in a presentation at the J.P. Morgan Health Care Conference, is headquartered in Boston and has a research lab in Seattle.
The company’s scientific co-founders are Philip Greenberg, Fred Hutch head of immunology, Thomas Schmitt, a research associate in his lab, and Hutch associate professor Aude Chapuis. Greenberg previously co-founded cell therapy company Juno Therapeutics, which was acquired by Celgene for more than $9 billion in 2018.
Co-founder Jak Knowles serves as Affini-T CEO and president. He was previously chief business officer of gene editing startup Metagenomi, which he co-founded. He was also VP of venture investments at Leaps by Bayer, the pharma giant’s investment arm, and he co-founded Exonics Therapeutics, which was acquired by Vertex Pharmaceuticals for $245 million.
