Link Cell Therapies Launches with Vision of Advancing CAR-T Therapies in Solid and Liquid Tumors

Closes $60 Million Series A Financing Round Backed by New and Existing Investors

$92 Million Raised to Date Across Seed and Series A Financings

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Dec. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Link Cell Therapies ("Link"), an oncology cell therapy company, today announced its official launch from stealth with a $60 million Series A financing that was led by Johnson & Johnson, through its corporate venture capital organization, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. , with participation from founding investors Samsara BioCapital and Sheatree Capital, as well as Wing Venture Capital and other new strategic and financial investors.

Link's proprietary logic-gating technologies allow for safe targeting of multiple antigens that are co-expressed on cancer cells but do not overlap or only minimally overlap in their normal healthy tissue expression. This platform enables the creation of next-generation CAR-T therapeutics for solid and liquid cancers built upon an entirely new landscape of "clean" target pairs.

"We recognized that for most cancer types, particularly solid tumors, the promise of CAR-T therapies is limited by a dearth of cancer-specific targets and abundant expression of most solid tumor targets in normal vital tissue," said Co-Founder Robbie Majzner, MD of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. "Link is advancing a technology that we developed while at Stanford University that allows for logic-gated CAR-T cell control. The Link-based CAR activates and kills target cells only when a combination of antigens is co-localized on the tumor, thereby bypassing normal tissues that express only one of those targets. We believe this approach will enable potent CAR-T therapies to attack a wide range of tumors while sparing healthy tissue."

Link Cell Therapies Announces $92 Million Raised Across Seed and Series A Financings

The Series A financing, which follows a 2022 Seed Round led by Samsara and Sheatree, adds a number of strong financial and strategic investors to the syndicate, including JJDC, Inc, Bristol Myers Squibb, Kyowa Kirin, Wing Venture Capital, and Sherpa Healthcare Partners.

"It has been a pleasure to support Link Cell Therapies since its founding," said Abraham Bassan, Member of the Link Board of Directors and Partner at Samsara BioCapital. "The team at Link has advanced a unique technology that could enable the development of multiple, impactful treatments for patients with cancer. I have been impressed with the team's achievements and the progress on Link's lead program and pipeline."

Link's Progress and Development Status

Link's lead program, LNK001 for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma ("RCC"), is on track for an Investigational New Drug (IND) application and initiation of dosing in a Phase I clinical trial in 2026. LNK001 targets two antigens that are uniquely and highly co-expressed in most RCC tumors. LNK001 is designed to enable tumor-specific efficacy while avoiding on-target, off-tumor toxicity that has limited prior experimental therapies targeting each individual antigen. 

Link's second program being developed for colorectal cancer will target Development Candidate selection in 2026 and initiation of human clinical studies in 2027. The company has multiple additional CAR-T programs in earlier development in solid and liquid cancers that will be developed internally or through partnerships.

For inquiries and information, contact Link Cell Therapies at [email protected].

About Link Cell Therapies

Link Cell Therapies ("Link") is a biotechnology company based in South San Francisco, California that was founded in 2022 by Robbie Majzner, MD and Crystal Mackall, MD at Stanford University. Link's proprietary logic-gating technologies allow for safe targeting of multiple antigens that are co-expressed selectively on cancer cells, thereby reducing the risk of on-target, off-tumor toxicity. This enables discovery of an entirely new landscape of "clean" target pairs, and development of next-generation CAR-T therapeutics for solid and liquid cancers. Link's team features industry-leading scientists collaborating with top-tier advisors and life science financial and strategic investors committed to improving outcomes for cancer patients. To learn more, please visit linkcelltx.com.

About Samsara BioCapital

Founded in 2017, Samsara BioCapital is a leading biotech investment firm focused on identifying opportunities across public and private markets. Samsara invests across the full spectrum from early-stage start-up to late-stage clinical assets with a focus on companies that will have a significant impact on patients and address high unmet medical needs. Samsara works with entrepreneurs and top-tier management teams that they believe will have a meaningful impact on innovative therapeutics. The Samsara team has deep expertise in biotech with significant experience working together prior to founding the firm. The team is led by Srinivas Akkaraju, who has over twenty-seven years of industry experience and has an MD and a PhD in Immunology from Stanford University.

SOURCE Link Cell Therapies