News Release Details

PHILADELPHIA — Carisma Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing innovative immunotherapies, today announced the expansion of its leadership team with Debora Barton, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer (CMO), and Tom Wilton, as Chief Business Officer (CBO). Both Dr. Barton and Wilton will play critical roles as Carisma continues to pioneer the development of engineered macrophages to transform the treatment of cancer and harness the power of innate and adaptive immunology.

“We are on the brink of disrupting the cell therapy landscape by providing a unique approach to addressing key challenges involved in treating solid tumors. We aim to provide patients and their healthcare providers with a breakthrough treatment option, and to achieve that, we are building a team of passionate individuals who will contribute to the growth and mission of Carisma,” said Steve Kelly, Chief Executive Officer of Carisma Therapeutics, Inc.

In her role as CMO, Dr. Barton brings extensive clinical and oncology experience, having practiced for nine years and assuming integral roles in medical affairs and clinical development for more than 13 years within the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President, Clinical and Safety at Iovance Biotherapeutics, a late-stage cellular therapy biotech. In her previous positions, she built clinical development and drug safety teams, established an infrastructure for the orchestration of clinical studies, and played an instrumental role in obtaining U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Breakthrough Designation for a cell therapy product and gaining the approval of a radiopharmaceutical agent by both the FDA and European Medicines Agency (EMA). Dr. Barton also spent a combined 10 years at Celgene and Novartis, always focused on improving the lives of those with cancer. She completed her medical training at Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo and her Oncology Fellowship at Federal University of São Paulo in Brazil.

“Our team understands the need to do more for patients. We must think differently to identify novel solutions that can solve some of our toughest challenges in solid tumor treatment and immunotherapies. I’m inspired by the work that has been done to date, and motivated by the opportunity to prove our hypothesis to develop the first-of-its-kind CAR-macrophage for the treatment of solid tumors,” said Dr. Barton.

As CBO, Wilton joins us with more than 20 years of pharmaceutical and biotechnology experience, including corporate strategy, business development, and marketing. He was previously CBO of LogicBio Therapeutics, Inc., a genome editing company based in Cambridge, Mass., where he was responsible for leading strategy, business development and intellectual property, and supported a successful initial public offering. Prior to LogicBio, he was CBO for University of Pennsylvania’s Gene Therapy Program, where he completed multiple partnerships that enabled the group to grow to more than 250 employees. Wilton earned a bachelor’s degree in science from the University of London and master’s degrees from the University of Leeds and Brunel University.

“Carisma is at an exciting juncture, and its foundation – comprised of a first-of-its-kind technology and an incredibly smart and passionate team – will accelerate us to the next phase of our development. We are laser focused on bringing to reality this novel CAR-macrophage immunotherapy and making a difference in people’s lives,” said Wilton.

About Carisma Therapeutics Inc.
Carisma Therapeutics Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company developing a differentiated and proprietary cell therapy platform focused on engineered macrophages, cells that play a crucial role in both the innate and adaptive immune response. The first applications of the platform, developed in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania, are autologous chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-macrophages for the treatment of solid tumors. Carisma Therapeutics is headquartered in Philadelphia, PA.

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Christina Khoury-Folkens
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