Solid tumours remain one of the toughest challenges in cancer treatment, and while CAR T-cell therapy has transformed some blood cancers, its impact on solid tumours – which make up nearly 90% of cancers – has been limited. Currus Biologics is working to change that, developing next-generation CAR T-cell therapies designed to overcome these barriers.
Biotech breakthroughs don’t happen overnight. They’re built on perseverance, persistence and patience. According to CEO Sam Cobb, solving solid tumours is a long game, and Currus is committed to seeing it through.
Currus Biologics was founded in 2021, spun out of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre based on research from leading immunotherapy scientists Mike Kershaw and Clare Slaney. Their work focused on a central problem in cancer medicine: why CAR T-cell therapies have transformed blood cancers, yet have underperformed in solid tumours to date.
From the beginning, the mission was ambitious: to translate academic discovery into a clinical-stage therapy capable of addressing this gap. Currus secured an initial AU$11.5 million Series A from Brandon Capital and Uniseed and has since attracted further investment, including from Main Sequence Ventures, bringing total funding to date to more than AU$27 million, alongside approximately AU$10 million in government grants and R&D tax incentives.
The Currus team has developed a CAR T-cell therapy targeting mesothelin, a protein found on certain solid tumours. This is used alongside a complementary bispecific antibody designed to bring antigen-presenting cells and the CAR T-cells together to strengthen the immune response.
From lab to business
For Sam, this translational phase is familiar territory. She began her career as a scientist in diagnostics before realising her long-term strengths lay beyond the lab bench. While studying law part-time, she moved into technology transfer at the University of Queensland, helping to commercialise research and launch new ventures. She later became founding CEO of AdAlta, spending 13 years building the company, listing it on the ASX, and taking a product from research to clinic.
“I love the translational part,” she explains when referencing the process of turning early research into real therapies that can reach patients. For Sam, it’s where science moves beyond theory and begins to have tangible impact. It’s about bridging the gap between discovery and delivery, navigating the complexity of regulation, manufacturing and funding to ensure promising ideas don’t stay in the lab. That experience of building patiently from science to clinic is now shaping Currus’ trajectory.
CAR T-cell therapy has delivered remarkable results in blood cancers, but solid tumours are harder to treat due to physical and immunosuppressive barriers. “These are not easy problems,” Sam says. “But they’re solvable.” Currus is tackling this with its lead clinical programme, CUR-001, which combines a mesothelin-targeting CAR T-cell therapy with BEAT, the Company’s proprietary bispecific antibody platform.
BEAT stands for Bispecific Engagers of Antigen-Presenting Cells and T cells. In simple terms, the BEAT simultaneously engages antigen-presenting cells and CAR T-cells, activating CAR T-cells in an immune-supportive environment away from the tumour and addressing a number of key limitations that have held cell therapy back in solid cancers.
Importantly, BEAT is designed as a universal solution that can work with any CAR T-cell format or tumour target, making it a potential enabling technology for the broader cell therapy field.
Sam says the preclinical data gives her confidence. “BEAT is doing exactly what we designed it to do – overcoming the challenges that have held CAR T-cell therapies back in solid tumours.” With the science now approaching the clinic, she is eager to see the therapy reach patients. “That’s the moment every translational scientist works toward, when the data gets its chance to prove itself in the people who need it most.”
Drug development takes time and patience. Currus plans to file its Investigational New Drug (IND) application in the second half of 2026, with Phase 1 clinical trials expected to begin in 2027.
Currus has built strong, long-standing relationships with investors, advisors and collaborators. The team has grown from just two people to a small but highly specialised group with deep expertise in manufacturing, drug development antibody and CAR T-cell science, as well as a strong business development track record.
Their ambition is to extend the durable success of CAR T-cell therapies in blood cancers to solid tumours, which represent the majority of cancers worldwide, potentially offering patients life-changing, longer-lasting responses and improved quality of life.
Sam is eager to see how Currus can change people’s lives. That milestone will begin when the first patient is treated and the science has its first opportunity to prove itself.
Through the whole journey, Sam says Currus is guided by three principles: Perseverance. Persistence. Patience.
