Carisma Therapeutics Inc. (CARM)

Carisma Therapeutics Inc. was a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, developing chimeric antigen receptor macrophage therapies for solid tumors. It was founded in 2016 as CARMA Therapeutics and built on research from the University of Pennsylvania, applying cell engineering to macrophages in order to harness both innate and adaptive immunity.

The company's lead candidate, CT-0508, was an engineered macrophage therapy directed at HER2-overexpressing solid tumors and was studied in a Phase 1 trial. Carisma also worked on in vivo CAR macrophage approaches using messenger RNA delivered via lipid nanoparticles, and in 2022 it entered a collaboration with Moderna.

Carisma became public in March 2023 through a reverse merger with Sesen Bio, with the combined company renamed Carisma Therapeutics and its shares listed on Nasdaq under the symbol CARM. In early 2025 the company said it would reduce its operations and explore strategic alternatives after a review of its clinical programs, and it cut staff and stopped development of CT-0508.

The stock price and market value subsequently fell below Nasdaq's continued listing standards. On October 9, 2025 Nasdaq issued a delisting determination for failure to meet requirements for minimum bid price, market value of listed securities and market value of publicly held shares. Trading on Nasdaq was suspended on October 13, 2025, and the stock began trading on the OTCID tier under CARM.

On December 5, 2025 the board approved a voluntary delisting from Nasdaq and deregistration from the SEC so the company could avoid waiting for Nasdaq to file its own notice and could pursue an orderly wind down of its operations while preserving cash.

The wind-down followed an extended period of restructuring that included workforce reductions and the end of internal development work. The company's decision reflected the situation common to many small clinical-stage biotechnology companies after clinical setbacks: limited cash, a low share price and no near-term source of financing. The Nasdaq Global Market requires minimum levels of bid price, market value of listed securities and publicly held shares, and Carisma fell short of all three. The company said that continuing to bear the costs of exchange listing and SEC reporting would reduce cash that might otherwise be available to stakeholders. Its earlier collaboration with Moderna had involved up-front payments and research funding.

The company expected to file a Form 25 around December 15, 2025, with the formal delisting taking effect around December 25, 2025, and then to file a Form 15 to suspend and terminate its Exchange Act reporting obligations.