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Two next-gen T cell engager companies raised a combined $146M & Aspen shows promising early results in Parkinson’s

AuthorAuthor

Joachim Eeckhout & Eduardo Longoria
March 19, 2026

Good morning! Animal testing isn’t disappearing from drug development, but its hegemony is starting to crack.

What happened: The FDA just announced that clinical trial sponsors can now submit data from organoids, organs-on-chips, and computational models even when those methods haven’t been formally validated or qualified as animal replacements. At the same time, the NIH unveiled $150 million in new awards to build out the tooling, data infrastructure, and research centers behind those alternatives.

Why it matters: This announcement builds on the FDA’s 2025 roadmap and prior moves to ease animal requirements for some biologics. The additional NIH funding is also what the ecosystem needed to make new methodologies harder to ignore.

Bottom line: It’s not a ban on animal testing yet, but it’s at least a step in the right direction.

— Joachim E.

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SNAPSHOT

Excalipoint launches with $69M to push next-gen T cell engagers beyond current limits

SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch

Shanghai-based Excalipoint Therapeutics debuted with $68.7M (a $41M seed round and a $27.7M extension) and a pipeline of six antibody drugs aimed at improving “T cell engagers” for cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Why it matters: T cell engagers are a fast-growing immunotherapy class, but current versions struggle with safety, resistance and limited success in solid tumors, a major unmet need.

Backstory: T cell engagers work by linking immune T cells to diseased cells, triggering an attack. While 10 have been approved in the U.S., most are effective only in blood cancers and can cause serious side effects like cytokine release syndrome.

Big picture: Excalipoint’s approach centers on trispecific antibodies (three targets instead of two) with the goal of improving tumor recognition, especially for “cold” tumors that evade immune detection. Excalipoint also makes use of “masking” technology to activate drugs only near tumors, reducing harm to healthy tissue.

Zoom in: The company´s lead drug, EXP011, targets DLL3 and two immune cell markers and is already in early human trials. Its second candidate, EXP012, is targeting gastrointestinal cancers via CDH17. Both were licensed from Lepu Biopharma for $10M upfront.

What’s next: Clinical readouts from early trials will be key value inflection points. The company plans to advance additional candidates and pursue global pharma partnerships.

 

SNIPPETS

What’s happening in biotech today?

💰 More money for TCEs: Another T-cell engager company, Crossbow Therapeutics, has raised $77 million in a series B round co-led by Taiho Ventures and Arkin Bio Capital, with participation from existing investors including Eli Lilly and Pfizer Ventures. The funding will primarily support a phase 1 trial of its lead candidate, CBX-250, targeting peptide human leukocyte antigen (pHLA) in myeloid cancers, with data expected by the end of 2026. Additional funds will expand its “T-Bolt” immunotherapy platform, including CBX-663, slated for clinical entry later this year. The company aims to develop broadly applicable cancer therapies using TCR-mimetic antibodies.

🧠 Parkinson’s protection: Aspen Neuroscience reported that its autologous stem cell therapy, sasineprocel, improved symptoms in all eight Parkinson’s disease patients treated in a phase 1/2a study after one year, showing gains in motor function, quality of life and over two additional hours of daily “good on” time. Some patients also reduced reliance on levodopa, a standard therapy for treating motor symptoms, supported by imaging confirming successful neuron engraftment and dopamine production. The therapy, derived from patients’ own reprogrammed skin cells, aims to replace lost dopaminergic neurons. Encouraged by these results, Aspen plans to begin a pivotal phase 3 trial later in 2026 following discussions with the FDA on study design.

🧬 CRISPR atlas: PerturbAI, a Silicon Valley-based drug discovery startup, has launched with an extensive in vivo CRISPR dataset, unveiling what it claims is the largest causal genomics atlas generated from living tissue. The dataset spans 8 million mouse brain cells and captures the effects of thousands of genetic perturbations across diverse neuronal types, enabling researchers to study gene function within intact biological systems. Developed in collaboration with NVIDIA, the Allen Institute and 10x Genomics, the publicly available resource aims to advance systems-level understanding of disease and support drug discovery, with an initial focus on complex cardiometabolic conditions.

💊 FDA approved: Johnson & Johnson and Protagonist Therapeutics have secured FDA approval for Icotyde (icotrokinra), a once-daily oral IL-23 receptor antagonist for patients aged 12 and older with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, offering a convenient alternative to injectable biologics. Backed by data from four phase 3 trials involving 2,500 patients, Icotyde demonstrated strong efficacy, with around 70% achieving clear or nearly clear skin and 55% reaching PASI 90 (a 90% or more reduction in severity) at 16 weeks, outperforming Bristol Myers Squibb’s Sotyktu and maintaining results through one year. Positioned as a potential “game-changer,” the pill is expected to achieve rapid uptake and blockbuster sales while expanding into other immunology indications.

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