What Quell Therapeutics does

Quell Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company founded in 2019 and headquartered in London (Translation & Innovation Hub, 84 Wood Lane) with a secondary presence in Boston, employing 101–250 people. It develops engineered T-regulatory (Treg) cell therapies using its proprietary Phenotype Locked™ CAR-Treg platform, which combines CAR constructs with a Foxp3 phenotype lock and synthetic cytokine receptors to produce stable, targeted Treg cells that durably engraft and suppress aberrant immune responses. The wholly-owned pipeline includes QEL-001 (HLA-A2 CAR-Treg for liver transplantation, Phase 1/2 LIBERATE, currently paused), QEL-005 (CD19 CAR-Treg for refractory rheumatoid arthritis and systemic sclerosis, Phase 1/2 CHILL across UK, Germany, and Spain), QEL-004 (Pan-Liver CAR for liver autoimmune disease, discovery), and QEL-ALLO (off-the-shelf allogeneic Treg programs, discovery). AstraZeneca holds rights to QEL-002 (islet-targeted CAR-Treg for type 1 diabetes) and QEL-003 (CAR-Treg for inflammatory bowel disease) under a $2.1 billion collaboration announced in September 2025.

Quell's business model is dual-track. Short term, it operates as an R&D-focused biotech: it generates no commercial product revenue, funds operations primarily through equity capital ($156M Series B in November 2021, prior Series B of $84M in 2021 and seed of $44.5M in 2019) and shareholder support, with Syncona as the largest backer at a 33.7% stake. Long term, the company is structured to monetize through (i) pharma partnerships with milestone and royalty streams — exemplified by the AstraZeneca deal — and (ii) potential direct commercialization of wholly-owned Treg products. Go-to-market for wholly-owned candidates runs through specialist transplant centers and rheumatology hospital sites via multinational Phase 1/2 trials, with future commercialization expected via partnership or co-promotion given the cell therapy manufacturing, logistics, and reimbursement complexity.

The customer base is clinical rather than commercial: end-users are patients with severe immune-mediated disease (liver transplant recipients, refractory RA and systemic sclerosis patients, and — under partnership — T1D and IBD patients), while enterprise counterparties are specialist hospital sites, academic collaborators (KCL, UCL, University Health Network, Hannover Medical School, University of Florida, University of Pittsburgh), and large-pharma partners (AstraZeneca). Pricing for approved products is not yet disclosed and will be set at/after regulatory approval.

Name

Quell Therapeutics

Legal name

Quell Therapeutics Limited

Website

https://quell-tx.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Quell Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotech engineering T-regulatory cell therapies on its proprietary Phenotype Locked™ CAR-Treg platform to treat severe immune-mediated diseases, including organ transplant rejection and refractory autoimmune conditions, and serves specialist hospital sites and pharma partners such as AstraZeneca.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Engineered Cell Therapy / Treg Cell Therapeutics

SIC

Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836), Pharmaceutical Preparations (2834)

akta.pro primary industry

CAR-T & TCR-T Therapies (HLAAABAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cell Therapy Enabling Technologies (gene editing, cell engineering, delivery methods) (HLAAABAL), Gene Therapy CMC/Process Development Platforms (capsid engineering, producer cell lines, plasmids, upstream/downstream) (HLAAACAN)

Keywords

• Engineered cell therapy
• Treg cell therapies
• CAR-Treg platform
• Transplant tolerance therapy
• Autoimmune cell therapy

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Treg Cell Therapy Commercialization: As a clinical-stage biotech, Quell has no current revenue. The company is developing engineered CAR-Treg therapies across transplantation, neuroinflammatory, and autoimmune disease indications. Anticipated revenue will derive from product sales of approved therapies and/or licensing/royalty streams from pharma partnerships. The AstraZeneca collaboration ($2.1B deal) includes potential milestone and royalty payments.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Quell Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing engineered T-regulatory (Treg) cell therapies designed to induce antigen-specific immune tolerance. Its product engine, the proprietary Phenotype Locked™ platform, supports multiple modalities including CAR-Treg, TCR-Treg, and allogeneic HLA-matched Treg cell therapies aimed at organ transplant tolerance and autoimmune diseases. Lead candidates target liver transplantation rejection, inflammatory bowel disease, type 1 diabetes, and broader autoimmune indications, with selected assets partnered with AstraZeneca.

Product overview

Quell Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing engineered T-regulatory (Treg) cell therapies built on its proprietary Phenotype Locked™ CAR-Treg platform. The company's portfolio includes wholly-owned programs (QEL-001, QEL-004, QEL-005, QEL-ALLO) and partnered programs with AstraZeneca (QEL-002, QEL-003). QEL-001 is an HLA-A2 targeted CAR-Treg for liver transplantation in Phase 1/2; QEL-005 is a CD19-directed CAR-Treg for rheumatologic autoimmune diseases in Phase 1/2. QEL-ALLO represents off-the-shelf allogeneic Treg candidates. The platform utilizes phenotype-locking, synthetic cytokine receptors, and multi-modular engineering to enhance Treg stability and therapeutic potential.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• QEL-001 Engineered autologous Treg cell therapy candidate aimed at inducing immune tolerance in liver transplant recipients to prevent graft rejection, being clinically advanced by Quell in transplant indications.
• QEL-002 Engineered Treg cell therapy candidate targeting type 1 diabetes, co-developed and partnered with AstraZeneca for antigen-specific immune tolerance induction in autoimmune disease.
• QEL-003 Engineered Treg cell therapy candidate targeting inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), co-developed and partnered with AstraZeneca for antigen-specific immune tolerance in autoimmune disease of the gut.
• QEL-004 Engineered Treg cell therapy candidate directed at autoimmune indications affecting the liver, developed by Quell using its Phenotype Locked™ platform for antigen-specific tolerance.
• QEL-005 Engineered Treg cell therapy candidate being developed by Quell for autoimmune disease indications, extending the Phenotype Locked™ platform beyond transplantation and into broader autoimmune therapy.
• QEL-ALLO Allogeneic, HLA-matched engineered Treg cell therapy program intended to support off-the-shelf, scalable Treg cell products across Quell's autoimmune and transplant tolerance pipeline.

Quantifiable outcome

• CAR-Tregs remained detectable in circulation for over one year with durable engraftment in liver tissue
• +3 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• AstraZenecaflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 September 2025AstraZeneca partnership valued at $2.1 billion (comprising upfront, development, and commercial milestones plus royalties) for the co-development and commercialization of QEL-002 (islet-targeted CAR-Treg for type 1 diabetes) and QEL-003 (CAR-Treg for inflammatory bowel disease). AstraZeneca brings global pharmaceutical commercialization infrastructure. The partnership exemplifies immunology following hemato-oncology's path of targeted and potentially curative therapies.
• Kings College LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Academic partner of Quell Therapeutics for Treg biology research and translational product development. Quell collaborates with leading academic institutions to unlock biologic insights and optimize its highly translational product development cycle.
• University College LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Academic partner collaborating with Quell on Treg biology and translational research. Quell works with leading academic institutions to unlock biologic insights and optimize product development.
• University Health NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Academic partner (based in Canada) collaborating with Quell on Treg biology research and cell therapy development.
• Hannover Medical SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Academic partner collaborating with Quell on Treg biology research, listed among Quell's academic collaborators.
• University of FloridacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Academic partner collaborating with Quell on Treg biology research, listed among Quell's academic collaborators.
• University of PittsburghcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Academic partner collaborating with Quell on Treg biology research, listed among Quell's academic collaborators.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Sangamo Therapeutics: Clinical-stage genomic medicine company developing cell and gene therapies including engineered Tregs and zinc finger nuclease-based platforms. Comparable to Quell for shared cell engineering capabilities and Treg therapy interests.
• Crispr Therapeutics: Clinical-stage gene-editing company developing CRISPR/Cas9-based cell therapies including CAR-T candidates. Comparable to Quell for shared cell engineering platform technology and gene-editing enabling capabilities for next-generation cell therapies.
• Editas Medicine: Clinical-stage gene-editing company developing CRISPR-based cell therapies including engineered T-cell candidates. Comparable to Quell for shared gene editing and cell therapy infrastructure enabling next-generation Treg and CAR-T products.
• Adaptimmune: Clinical-stage cell therapy company developing engineered T-cell receptor (TCR) therapies. Comparable to Quell for shared expertise in engineering T-cells with synthetic receptors (CAR vs TCR) and cell therapy manufacturing capabilities.

Direct peers

• Allogene Therapeutics: Clinical-stage biotech developing allogeneic CAR-T cell therapies for cancer and autoimmune disease. Comparable to Quell for shared allogeneic cell therapy platform ambitions (QEL-ALLO) and CAR-T engineering expertise.
• Kyverna Therapeutics: Clinical-stage CAR-T cell therapy company focused on autoimmune diseases, including rheumatologic indications like RA. Directly comparable to Quell's QEL-005 given overlapping CAR-T-for-autoimmune strategy and target patient populations.
• Cabaletta Bio: Clinical-stage biotech developing CAR-T cell therapies designed to reset immune tolerance in autoimmune disease. Comparable to Quell for its cell therapy approach to B-cell-mediated autoimmune conditions and overlap with QEL-005's indications.
• Sonoma Biotherapeutics: Clinical-stage biotech developing engineered regulatory T cell (Treg) therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Most direct comparable to Quell given shared Treg cell therapy focus and similar autoimmune indications.
• Abata Therapeutics: Clinical-stage company developing engineered regulatory T cell (Treg) therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes. Highly comparable to Quell's Treg platform and overlapping T1D indication (QEL-002).
• Atara Biotherapeutics: Clinical-stage cell therapy company developing allogeneic T-cell and Treg-based therapies for autoimmune disease and oncology. Comparable to Quell for shared focus on engineered T-cell therapies for immune-mediated disease and allogeneic approach overlapping with QEL-ALLO.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/quell-therapeutics

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors11 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Quell Therapeutics