Circio and Acuitas partner on circular RNA CAR T therapy

Circio Holding ASA has announced a new collaboration with Acuitas Therapeutics to evaluate its circular RNA technology for use in in vivo CAR T-cell therapy, which could lead to new cancer and autoimmune disease treatments.

Circio said the agreement will focus on combining its proprietary circVec platform with delivery technology developed by Acuitas Therapeutics.

Growing interest in in vivo CAR T

In vivo CAR T therapy, which involves engineering immune cells directly inside the body, has become an area of intense research and deal activity across the pharmaceutical industry. Unlike traditional ex vivo approaches, this method could simplify manufacturing and expand patient access.

In vivo CAR T therapy, which involves engineering immune cells directly inside the body, has become an area of intense research and deal activity across the pharmaceutical industry

Current approaches often rely on messenger RNA, but these typically produce only short-lived expression lasting a few days. This limitation may restrict their effectiveness in certain therapeutic settings.

Circio believes its circVec technology could offer a solution. The company has previously reported that its platform can deliver gene expression lasting up to six months in lymphocytes in vivo, potentially enabling a longer therapeutic window and broader clinical applications.

Combining durability with delivery precision

“The in vivo CAR T field is accelerating rapidly and two preclinical stage circular RNA companies with such programs were recently acquired in major pharma transactions,” said Victor Levitsky, Chief Scientific Officer of Circio. “Acuitas has developed a state-of-the-art LNP delivery platform to specifically deliver Circio´s circVec constructs into T cells. By combining the unrivaled expression durability of circVec with the delivery precision of Acuitas´ LNPs, we aim to establish a novel in vivo CAR T concept for cancer and auto-immune diseases where an extended expression window is required.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Acuitas will formulate circVec constructs using its proprietary lipid nanoparticle platform, designed to target specific T cell populations including CD8+ and CD4+ cells.

Circio will then evaluate the modified cells, testing both their activity and durability in laboratory and in vivo settings. The aim is to assess the potential of circVec-based therapies in oncology and autoimmune diseases.

Advancing next-generation therapeutics

The collaboration represents a broader push within the industry to develop more durable and precise genetic medicines, particularly in immuno-oncology.

“We are excited to begin working with Circio in this technology evaluation agreement, combining our expertise in lipid nanoparticle technology with their circular RNA technology,” said Ying Tam, Chief Scientific Officer of Acuitas Therapeutics. “Through this evaluation, we aim to explore new possibilities in next-generation therapeutics, including in vivo CAR T approaches and advance the development of transformative treatments for patients.”

We are excited to begin working with Circio in this technology evaluation agreement, combining our expertise in lipid nanoparticle technology with their circular RNA technology

If successful, the partnership could help validate circular RNA as a viable alternative to existing approaches, potentially unlocking new opportunities in cell therapy by extending the duration of therapeutic gene expression.

A competitive and evolving landscape

The collaboration comes amid growing competition in the RNA therapeutics space, with pharmaceutical companies increasingly investing in novel platforms that promise improved performance over first-generation technologies.

By pairing extended expression with targeted delivery, Circio and Acuitas hope that their collaboration can greatly contribute to the next wave of innovation in cell therapy.