On July 23, 2025 Dispatch Bio reported its official launch, with a mission to engineer a universal treatment across solid tumors, which represent approximately 90% of cancers worldwide (Press release, Dispatch Bio, JUL 23, 2025, View Source [SID1234654496]).
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Immunotherapies have struggled to effectively treat solid tumors due to two main challenges: the lack of a tumor-specific target and the presence of an immune-suppressive tumor microenvironment. Dispatch’s first-in-class Flare platform was specifically engineered to overcome both. It works by delivering a viral vector carrying a novel, universal antigen – called Flare – that precisely tags solid tumor cells while simultaneously breaking down the tumor’s inhibitory environment. Once in place, the Flare antigen acts as a beacon, directing the immune system to find and clear the cancer cells — without harming healthy tissue.
"At Dispatch, we are leveraging the ideal tumor target – one that is only expressed by the tumor cells in a patient – and advances in cell therapy engineering and immune system activation at the right place, at the right time, to get to deep and durable responses in cancer," said Sabah Oney, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Dispatch. "This work matters deeply to me, as it does to so many whose lives have been touched by cancer. We’ve built a strong scientific foundation, assembled an exceptional team and developed innovative technology that give us a real shot at making a difference. We are fully committed to doing everything we can for patients who urgently need new options."
Dispatch was established through a pivotal collaboration with the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) and convergence of groundbreaking technologies from the laboratories of Andy Minn, M.D., Ph.D.; Carl June, M.D.; Chris Garcia, Ph.D.; and Kole Roybal, Ph.D.
"With this confluence of innovative technologies from the labs across PICI, we are poised to shift how cancer therapies are conceived," said Sean Parker, founder and chairman of PICI, as well as a member of Dispatch’s board of directors. "We can now pursue the ultimate goal – a universal cure for most solid tumor cancers – using cutting-edge modalities."
Renowned Leadership and Pioneering Scientists
Since its founding in 2022, Dispatch has focused on building a world-class leadership team and executing its broad pipeline of programs. The founding team at Dispatch includes:
Scientific Co-Founders
Andy Minn, M.D., Ph.D., Chair of Immuno-Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Carl June, M.D., PICI Center Director and the Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Chris Garcia, Ph.D., Professor of Structural Biology and Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford University
Kole Roybal, Ph.D., PICI Center Director and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at University of California, San Francisco
Board of Directors
Jeff Marrazzo, Chairman; Co-founder and Former CEO, Spark Therapeutics
Jake Bauer, Venture Partner, ARCH Venture Partners
John Connolly, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, PICI
Robert Nelsen, Co-founder and Managing Director, ARCH Venture Partners
Sabah Oney, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, Dispatch
Sean Parker, Founder and Chairman, PICI
Steve Gillis, Ph.D., Managing Director, ARCH Venture Partners
Leadership Team
Sabah Oney, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer
Barbra Sasu, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer
Chris Wiwi, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Technical Operations
Jennifer Flaisher, Chief People and Culture Officer
Lex Johnson, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Platform Officer
Naveen Bazaj, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development
Scientific Advisory Board
Kole Roybal, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco; SAB Chairman
Andy Minn, M.D., Ph.D., Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Antoni Ribas, M.D., Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Anusha Kalbasi, M.D., Stanford University
Brad Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Carl June, M.D., University of Pennsylvania
Chris Garcia, Ph.D., Stanford University
Christine Brown, Ph.D., City of Hope
David Kirn, M.D., 4D Molecular Therapeutics; University of California, Berkeley
John Connolly, Ph.D., PICI
Kristen Hege, M.D., University of California, San Francisco
Lisa Coussens, M.D., Ph.D., FAACR, Oregon Health & Science University
Matt Porteus, M.D., Ph.D., Stanford University
Series A Funding to Support First-in-Human Studies
The Series A syndicate includes founding investors ARCH Venture Partners and PICI, along with Bristol Myers Squibb, the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, and Alexandria Venture Investments. With this recently closed funding round, Dispatch has raised a total of $216 million to date.
Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance the company’s therapeutic candidates into first-in-human clinical studies and beyond, with the first program expected to enter the clinic in 2026.
"We are on the wave of a revolution in cancer therapy, where innovations like Dispatch’s tumor-agnostic approach to immunotherapy have the potential to treat a majority of solid tumors," said Steve Gillis, Ph.D., board member of Dispatch and managing director at ARCH Venture Partners. "We are excited to support the Dispatch team as they continue to advance their programs."