June 01, 2026 —
Waypoint Bio has closed a $20 million Series A financing to advance its AI-enabled platform for next-generation in vivo CAR-T therapies targeting solid tumors. The round was led by Amplify Partners, with participation from General Catalyst, Time BioVentures, Mitsui Global Investments, Lux Capital, and existing investors including Hummingbird Ventures.
The financing will support advancement of Waypoint’s lead program, WAY-103, into an investigator-initiated trial expected to begin in late 2026. The company will also use the funds to expand its AI and spatial biology platform, build clinical development capabilities, and advance additional in vivo CAR-T programs, including WAY-200 for colorectal cancer.
Waypoint is developing a platform that integrates artificial intelligence, computer vision, and spatial pooled screening to design and evaluate therapeutic candidates in complex tumor environments. Unlike conventional screening approaches that may rely primarily on tumor size or simple efficacy readouts, Waypoint’s platform uses spatially resolved data to assess how each candidate interacts with the tumor microenvironment, including immune suppression, cell-cell interactions, and infiltration barriers.
WAY-103 is being developed for gastric and pancreatic solid tumors and has demonstrated more than 15-fold improved potency in animal models compared with multiple clinical benchmarks, alongside reduced on-target/off-tumor toxicity. The construct was discovered and optimized through pooled head-to-head screens with spatially resolved readouts, giving Waypoint a data-rich framework for selecting differentiated candidates before entering clinical development.
The company is also developing proprietary next-generation lentiviral vectors for in vivo delivery. These vectors are intended to improve the performance of in vivo CAR-T approaches by enabling more effective delivery and engineering of immune cells directly inside the body. This strategy could help address some of the manufacturing, access, and scalability challenges associated with traditional ex vivo CAR-T therapies.
As part of the company’s growth, Dr. Patrick Kaifosh, previously co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of CTRL-Labs and Senior Director at Meta’s Reality Labs, has joined as Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Kristen Hege, formerly Senior Vice President of Early Clinical Development, Hematology/Oncology & Cell Therapy at Bristol Myers Squibb, has joined Waypoint’s Scientific Advisory Board.
Waypoint’s Series A reflects growing investor interest in the convergence of AI, spatial biology, and cell therapy. For solid tumors, where CAR-T development has historically faced major barriers, platforms capable of evaluating therapeutic activity within the tumor microenvironment may help identify candidates with stronger translational potential.
If successful, Waypoint’s approach could support a new generation of in vivo CAR-T therapies designed not only for potency, but also for tumor selectivity, reduced toxicity, and faster clinical validation.
