Link Cell Therapies
Link Cell Therapies is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation CAR-T cell therapies for solid tumors using a proprietary AND-gate logic-gating platform that requires dual-antigen co-expression for tumor-specific cytotoxicity, targeting cancers including renal cell carcinoma and colorectal cancer.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2022
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Link Cell Therapies does
Link Cell Therapies is a clinical-stage biotechnology company founded in May 2022 by Stanford professors Robbie Majzner, MD and Crystal Mackall, MD to develop next-generation CAR-T cell therapies for solid tumors, which have historically been inaccessible to conventional CAR-T approaches due to lack of tumor-specific antigens and on-target/off-tumor toxicity. Headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company has raised $92 million in total funding across a $12M seed round (May 2022, led by Samsara BioCapital and Sheatree Capital) and a $60M Series A (December 2025, led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC), with additional participation from Bristol Myers Squibb, Kyowa Kirin, Wing Venture Capital, and Sherpa Healthcare Partners. Link emerged from stealth publicly in December 2025 alongside the Series A close and entered strategic collaborations with Janssen Biotech (Johnson & Johnson) and Nona Biosciences in January 2026.
The company's core platform is a proprietary AND-gate logic-gating CAR-T technology (LINK CAR) that engineers LAT and SLP-76 signaling molecules as surface receptors, requiring tumor cells to co-express two antigens before triggering T cell cytotoxicity — a design intended to spare healthy tissues expressing only single antigens. The platform is augmented by two complementary technologies: the ZAP platform (engages the ZAP-70 pathway to reduce T cell exhaustion) and the BOOST platform (amplifies CAR/TCR signaling to counter low target antigen expression). Lead clinical program LNK001 targets renal cell carcinoma with IND filing and Phase I initiation planned for 2026, and a second program targeting colorectal cancer is on track for Development Candidate selection in 2026 and human clinical studies in 2027. The team of 11–50 employees is led by COO Jerry Cacia (ex-Roche/Genentech 32 years, ex-Graphite Bio CTO) and CSO Mark Wallet, Ph.D. (ex-Century Therapeutics, ex-Fate Therapeutics).
Link Cell Therapies is pre-revenue with a hybrid business model: future revenue is expected from direct sale of CAR-T therapeutic products upon regulatory approval (one-time licensing of therapies to treatment centers) and from upfront payments, milestones, and royalties under strategic co-development partnerships with larger pharmaceutical companies such as Johnson & Johnson. Initial clinical distribution for LNK001 will occur through Phase I clinical trial sites, with broader commercialization dependent on pharma partnerships. The company's customer segments are organized by oncology use case, with solid tumors (renal cell carcinoma and colorectal cancer) as the primary focus and hematologic cancers as a secondary opportunity enabled by the same logic-gating technology.
Link Cell Therapies firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Link Cell Therapies
- Legal name
- Link Cell Therapies, Inc.
- Website
- https://linkcelltx.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2022
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Link Cell Therapies is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation CAR-T cell therapies for solid tumors using a proprietary AND-gate logic-gating platform that requires dual-antigen co-expression for tumor-specific cytotoxicity, targeting cancers including renal cell carcinoma and colorectal cancer.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Link Cell Therapies industry classification
Industry- Product category
- CAR-T Cell Therapy
- NAICS
- Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing (325414), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Pharmaceutical Preparation Manufacturing (325412)
- SIC
- Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836)
- akta.pro primary industry
- CAR-T & TCR-T Therapies (HLAAABAC)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Cell Therapy Enabling Technologies (gene editing, cell engineering, delivery methods) (HLAAABAL)
Keywords
Where Link Cell Therapies is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Link Cell Therapies business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- CAR-T Therapeutic Products: Revenue will be generated from sale of CAR-T therapeutic products upon regulatory approval and commercialization. Programs target solid tumors (renal cell carcinoma, colorectal cancer) and hematologic cancers.
- Licensing and Co-development Partnerships: Strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical companies for co-development and commercialization of CAR-T therapies, generating upfront payments, milestone payments, and royalties.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels4 records
Link Cell Therapies product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Link Cell Therapies develops next-generation CAR-T cell therapies for solid tumors and selected hematologic cancers using a proprietary AND-gate logic-gating platform that requires co-expression of two cancer antigens to trigger tumor cell killing while sparing healthy tissue. The company is advancing lead program LNK001 for renal cell carcinoma toward Phase I trials in 2026 and a second program for colorectal cancer toward human clinical studies in 2027, supported by ZAP and BOOST platform technologies that address T cell exhaustion and signaling evasion.
Product overview
Link Cell Therapies is a biotechnology company developing next-generation CAR-T cell therapies using a proprietary technology platform consisting of three interconnected components: the core LINK CAR Technology Platform (AND-gate logic-gating system), the ZAP Platform (reduces T cell exhaustion), and the BOOST Platform (amplifies signaling). The company's lead product LNK001 targets renal cell carcinoma and is advancing toward Phase I clinical trials in 2026. A second program targets colorectal cancer with clinical studies planned for 2027. Additional CAR-T programs for solid and liquid cancers are in earlier development stages.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- LNK001 Lead CAR-T therapy program developed by Link Cell Therapies targeting renal cell carcinoma (RCC) using a dual-targeting AND-gated design that targets two antigens uniquely co-expressed in RCC tumors while avoiding on-target, off-tumor toxicity. On track for IND application and Phase I clinical trial initiation in 2026.
- Colorectal Cancer Program Second CAR-T therapy program at Link Cell Therapies targeting colorectal cancer using the proprietary logic-gating AND-gate design. Development Candidate selection is planned for 2026, with human clinical studies planned to begin in 2027.
Quantifiable outcome
- LINK CAR T cells eradicated double-positive tumor cells and avoided single-antigen-positive cells in preclinical models, demonstrating improved safety compared to 2nd-generation CA9 CAR T cells for clear cell renal cell carcinoma
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Link Cell Therapies
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Link Cell Therapies technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Link Cell Therapies partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.
- Nona BiosciencescoreMulti-target antibody discovery collaboration leveraging Nona's HCAb Harbour Mice platform and NonaCarFx screening technology alongside Link's logic-gated LINK CAR signaling technology. Aims to develop fully human heavy chain-only antibodies to reduce immunogenicity and enhance CAR design versatility.
- Janssen Biotech, Inc.flagshipStrategic collaboration to develop AND-gate CAR T programs for clinical use. Leverages Link's proprietary LINK logic gate technology to selectively target proteins co-expressed on tumor cells. Legal entity of Johnson & Johnson for this collaboration.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Link Cell Therapies competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Allogene Therapeutics: Allogene is a clinical-stage CAR-T cell therapy company developing allogeneic 'off-the-shelf' therapies for hematologic and solid tumors. Several Link executives (Diego Vargas, Regina Lin, Bryan Smith) came directly from Allogene, making it the closest comparable in CAR-T modality and target class.
- Arsenal Biosciences: Arsenal Bio develops logic-gated cell therapies for solid tumors using a programmable CAR-T approach. Bryan Smith (Link's Associate Director of Target Discovery) joined Link directly from Arsenal, indicating Arsenal is the most direct peer in the AND-gate/logic-gated solid tumor CAR-T niche.
- Fate Therapeutics: Fate Therapeutics develops iPSC-derived NK and T cell therapies for cancer. Mark Wallet (Link's CSO) previously led translational science at Fate, and Link's iPSC-adjacent cell engineering approach is directly comparable in modality and indication.
- Century Therapeutics: Century Therapeutics develops gene-edited iPSC-derived CAR-NK and CAR-T therapies for cancer. Mark Wallet (Link CSO) was previously VP/Head of Immuno-oncology at Century, and the companies share gene-edited cell therapy modality and oncology focus.
- CARGO Therapeutics: CARGO Therapeutics develops CAR-T cell therapies for solid and hematologic cancers, with Abe Bassan (Link's President and Samsara principal) also serving on CARGO's board. Both are Samsara-backed CAR-T developers targeting solid tumor challenges.
- Adaptimmune: Adaptimmune develops engineered T cell receptor (TCR-T) therapies for solid tumors, with an approved therapy (Tecelra) for synovial sarcoma. They compete in the same solid tumor adoptive cell therapy category as Link's CAR-T programs.
- Cellectis: Cellectis is a clinical-stage gene-edited allogeneic CAR-T company developing TALEN-engineered cell therapies for hematologic and solid tumors. Comparable as a gene-engineering platform CAR-T developer targeting solid tumor challenges.
- Precision BioSciences: Precision BioSciences develops in vivo and ex vivo gene-edited cell therapies using ARCUS meganuclease technology, with oncology CAR-T programs for both hematologic and solid tumors. Comparable in gene-edited cell therapy modality.
Broad incumbents
- CRISPR Therapeutics: CRISPR Therapeutics is a leading clinical-stage gene-editing company with Casgevy (the first FDA-approved CRISPR therapy) and a deep pipeline of gene-edited CAR-T therapies for oncology. Comparable as a larger, more advanced gene-edited cell therapy platform competitor.
Emerging players
- Caribou Biosciences: Caribou Biosciences develops allogeneic CAR-T cell therapies using CRISPR-based gene editing for hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. Comparable as a smaller, clinical-stage allogeneic CAR-T developer with overlapping modality and target space.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Link Cell Therapies social profiles
Digital presenceLink Cell Therapies financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Link Cell Therapies leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles13 records
Link Cell Therapies funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors7 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Link Cell Therapies M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Link Cell Therapies
What does Link Cell Therapies do?
Link Cell Therapies develops next-generation CAR-T cell therapies for solid tumors and selected hematologic cancers using a proprietary AND-gate logic-gating platform that requires co-expression of two cancer antigens to trigger tumor cell killing while sparing healthy tissue. The company is advancing lead program LNK001 for renal cell carcinoma toward Phase I trials in 2026 and a second program for colorectal cancer toward human clinical studies in 2027, supported by ZAP and BOOST platform technologies that address T cell exhaustion and signaling evasion.
Is Link Cell Therapies a public or private company?
Link Cell Therapies is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Link Cell Therapies founded?
Link Cell Therapies was founded in 2022. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Link Cell Therapies based?
Link Cell Therapies is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Link Cell Therapies make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. CAR-T Therapeutic Products are the primary driver. The others are licensing and Co-development Partnerships.
Who are Link Cell Therapies's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Allogene Therapeutics, Arsenal Biosciences, Fate Therapeutics, Century Therapeutics, CARGO Therapeutics, Adaptimmune, Cellectis and Precision BioSciences. CRISPR Therapeutics is listed as a broad incumbent. Caribou Biosciences is listed as an emerging player.
Does Link Cell Therapies have an API?
No public API is recorded for Link Cell Therapies.
What industry is Link Cell Therapies in?
Link Cell Therapies's product category is CAR-T Cell Therapy. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAAABAC, CAR-T & TCR-T Therapies, with a secondary code of HLAAABAL, Cell Therapy Enabling Technologies (gene editing, cell engineering, delivery methods). Its NAICS code is 325414 and its SIC code is 2836.